Department for Transport

Driving: Diabetes

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 13 December 2018 to the Question 199278 on Driving and Diabetes, when the DVLA plans to publish its guidance on the use of continuous or flash glucose monitoring devices for drivers with diabetes.

Jesse Norman: The guidance on the use of new monitoring technologies for people with diabetes was updated on 15 February and is available online at: www.gov.uk/guidance/diabetes-mellitus-assessing-fitness-to-drive#diabetes-mellitus.

Cycling and Walking: Greater Manchester

Jeff Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will allocate funding for Transport for Greater Manchester to implement its Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan.

Jesse Norman: The Government has allocated a total of £312.5 million to Greater Manchester over the five-year period to 2022-23 as part of the Transforming Cities Fund. £160 million of this will help support the creation of a comprehensive cycling and walking network, informed by the Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan that is currently being developed by Transport for Greater Manchester.

Transport: Terrorism

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with the Home Secretary on strategies to protect transport hubs throughout the UK against terrorist activity.

Jesse Norman: There is an established system for protecting transport from the threat of terrorism delivered by the Department for Transport in partnership with industry and police. That transport security regime forms part of the Home Office’s wider counter-terrorism strategy, CONTEST. As such Ministers and officials are in regular dialogue with Home Office counterparts, striving to ensure that transport security measures are responsive to the evolving threat.

Garden Bridge Trust

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has made an assessment of the decision-making process which resulted in the £30 million investment in the Garden Bridge Trust through an increase in block grant to Transport for London.

Jesse Norman: An initial decision to provide £30m towards the Garden Bridge project was taken by the former Chancellor on the condition that certain requirements were met. The transfer of £30m to Transport for London was instigated once the proposal had been considered by the Department’s business investment committee. The National Audit Office carried out an investigation into the funding and reported in 2016.

Garden Bridge Trust

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much of the £30 million grant to the Garden Bridge Trust has been spent to date; and whether any funding allocated to that project has been returned to his Department.

Jesse Norman: Spend on pre-construction activity on the Garden Bridge project was capped at £13.5m. The former Secretary of State for Transport agreed that a further £9m could be spent on cancellation liabilities should the project not go ahead. Following cancellation of the project, the Garden Bridge Trust has submitted a claim for around £5m of cancellation liabilities. The final spend figure will be known after the standstill period of 3 months (from 13 February) which allows for any final remaining claims to come forward. We do not expect any remaining claims to be substantial. Therefore we expect the total spend to be around £18.5m with £11.5m returned to the Department once the claim is settled.

Cycling and Walking: West Midlands

Emma Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department plans to provide earmarked funding for The West Midlands Combined Authority to help it implement its local cycling and walking infrastructure plan.

Jesse Norman: The Department has provided West Midlands Combined Authority with dedicated transport planning support to enable the development of the city’s Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan (LCWIP).The Department has also awarded the West Midlands Combined Authority £321.5m from the Transforming Cities Fund to improve and support new local transport links. It is for the City Region and Mayor to identify and prioritise investment for cycling and walking schemes, including from existing local highways funds.

Cycling and Walking: Infrastructure

Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what funding his Department plans to make available for constructing schemes in local cycling and walking infrastructure plans.

Jesse Norman: Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plans (LCWIPs) are used by Local Authorities to identify and prioritise investment for cycling and walking schemes from local funds and relevant national funding streams, such as the Highways Maintenance Fund, Integrated Transport Block, Transforming Cities Fund, Future High Streets Fund, and the Housing Infrastructure Fund. Decisions on further future funding for cycling and walking will be made in the context of the forthcoming Spending Review.

Garden Bridge Trust: Finance

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, for what reasons his Department decided to increase the cap on the amount of funding between February and May 2016 for the Garden Bridge Trust that could be used for pre-construction activity.

Jesse Norman: A decision was taken by the former Transport Minister to allow an increase in pre-construction spend to £13.5m to allow the Garden Bridge Trust to carry out essential activities related to the construction of the Bridge.

Heathrow Airport: Railways

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answers of 13 February 2019 to Questions 218813 and 218814, what the timescale is for the delivery of a Southern Rail Link to Heathrow; and when he plans to set out further opportunities for market involvement in that project.

Andrew Jones: In line with the recommendations of the recently published Market Sounding Report on Southern Rail Link to Heathrow, Government is now working to further develop and clarify the outcomes we want to be delivered from this project and consider appropriate commercial models. The Secretary of State has committed to complete this work as soon as possible and we will set out further engagement opportunities in due course.

Department for Transport: Public Consultation

Peter Dowd: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many consultations by his Department (a) are open, (b) are closed awaiting a Government response and (c) have been initiated since 2016.

Jesse Norman: The Department for Transport (DfT) currently has 9 consultations open on GOV.UK There are 30 consultations awaiting a Government response.Since 2016, 176 DfT consultations have been published on GOV.UK.

Cycling and Walking: Newcastle-under-Lyme

Paul Farrelly: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what financial and other support he plans to allocate to the Newcastle-under-Lyme constituency to build the required infrastructure identified in the area local cycling and walking infrastructure plan.

Jesse Norman: Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plans (LCWIPs) are used by Local Authorities to identify and prioritise investment for cycling and walking schemes from local funds and relevant national funding streams, such as the Highways Maintenance Fund, Integrated Transport Block, Transforming Cities Fund, Future High Streets Fund, and Housing Infrastructure Fund. The Department has been supporting Staffordshire County Council in the development of its LCWIP. Decisions on future funding for cycling and walking will be made in the context of the forthcoming Spending Review.

Department for Transport: Pay

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many male direct entrants at Grade 7 level in his Department started on a higher salary level than the Grade 7 minimum in (a) 2015, (b) 2016, (c) 2017 and (d) 2018.

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many male direct entrants at Grade 7 level in his Department started on a higher salary level than the Grade 7 minimum in 2019.

Jesse Norman: The table below shows the number of male direct entrants at Grade 7 level that started on a higher salary level than the Grade 7 minimum for DfT(C), DVLA, DVSA, MCA and VCA for the years 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and up to 31st January 2019 (the latest data available at the time of writing).YearNumber20157201662017312018192019 (up to 31st Jan 2019)3

Department for Transport: Pay

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many men promoted from senior executive officer level to grade seven in his Department started on a higher salary than the grade seven minimum from 1 January 2015 to date.

Jesse Norman: The data required to answer is not held centrally and could only be retrieved at disproportionate cost.

London North Eastern Railway: Trains

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when the LNER Azuma trains will be ready to travel north of York.

Andrew Jones: Passengers across the East Coast Mainline including those north of York, in Newcastle, Edinburgh and beyond, will benefit from the introduction of new trains by LNER through the Intercity Express Programme. LNER plan to bring the new trains into service from 2019, to ensure passengers get the best possible customer experience. It is a complex programme, and, as with any new technology and major investment, the infrastructure and train operations need to be rigorously tested to ensure reliable services passengers deserve from day one. The department is working with Hitachi, the ORR, LNER, and Network Rail to ensure that these new trains enter service on the ECML as soon as possible. Trains will initially be deployed on the London to Leeds route. Their introduction will be complete across the full East Coast in 2020.

Department for Education

Care Leavers: Social Services

Michael Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of care leavers aged 19-21 years old had contact with a personal adviser in the last 12 months.

Michael Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many care leavers aged 19-21 years there are by local authority area.

Michael Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many care leavers aged 19-21 years there are who have had contact with a personal adviser in the last 12 months by local authority area.

Michael Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of care leavers aged 19-21 years have each local authority been in contact with in the year ending 31 March 2018.

Michael Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many care leavers there are aged 19-21 years in the Dorset County Council area.

Michael Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many care leavers there are aged 19-21 years in the Poole Council area.

Nadhim Zahawi: The latest national information on the number of care leavers aged 19 to 21 and the percentage in touch with their local authority can be found in table F1 of the statistical release ‘Children looked after in England including adoption: 2017 to 2018’: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/children-looked-after-in-england-including-adoption-2017-to-2018. These figures are also disaggregated at local authority level for 2018 in the underlying data tables that accompany this statistical release.The department does not hold data on care leavers below local authority level.The department does not hold information centrally on the number and proportion of care leavers who have specifically had contact with a personal advisor within a local authority.Paragraph 4.38 of the Children Act (1989) volume 3 statutory guidance provides further information on how the duty on local authorities to keep in touch with care leavers should be implemented. A copy of the guidance is available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/397649/CA1989_Transitions_guidance.pdf.

Schools: Racial Discrimination

Giles Watling: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many incidents of racism were reported in schools in (a) England, (b) Essex, (c) Tendring and (d) Clacton constituency in (i) 2017 and (ii) 2018.

Nick Gibb: The information requested is not held centrally.Schools are not required to report centrally on racist incidents or to publish figures. Schools have the freedom to develop their own approaches for monitoring behaviour, including racist incidents, and to exercise their own judgement as to what will work best for their pupils and the communities they serve. They are required to publish a behaviour policy that outlines measures to encourage good behaviour and to prevent all forms of bullying amongst pupils, including racist bullying, and are held to account by Ofsted. Where schools feel that an incident might constitute a crime, guidance makes it clear that they should report it to the police.

Schools: Racial Discrimination

Giles Watling: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to encourage anti-racism initiatives in schools.

Anne Milton: All schools are required to actively promote our shared values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty, and mutual respect and tolerance for those of different faiths and beliefs. Schools are also required to promote equality and respect for others, with particular regard to the protected characteristics. Promotion of these values is part of Ofsted’s inspection framework and the department has published guidance to schools on promoting these important values as part of pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.In 2016, the department also launched the Educate Against Hate website which provides resources for teachers and school leaders to support their promotion of these values. This includes the department’s Respectful Schools Communities toolkit; a self-review and signposting tool to support schools to develop a whole-school approach which promotes respect and discipline.Additionally, subject to the passage of regulations through parliament, schools will be required to teach relationships education to all primary pupils and relationships and sex education to all secondary pupils from September 2020. The focus is on building positive, respectful relationships, including online, and understanding the impact of harmful stereotypes and bullying.The department also supports a number of specific initiatives in schools to combat bullying. The department is providing over £2.8 million of funding, between September 2016 and March 2020, to 4 anti-bullying organisations to support schools to tackle bullying. This includes projects targeting bullying of particular groups, such as those who are victims of hate-related bullying, along with a project to report bullying online. These projects contribute towards the government’s Hate Crime Action plan.Finally, as part of our commitments in the government’s Integrated Communities Action Plan, the department has funded an expanded national school linking programme. This seeks to encourage meaningful social mixing between different types of schools and foster understanding of those with different backgrounds, faiths and beliefs. Last year, the Linking Network worked with over 400 schools leading to 17,635 pupils taking part in activities supporting integration.

Pupil Referral Units

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the level of educational outcomes of students attending Pupil Referral Units.

Nick Gibb: The attainment of pupils, at the end of Key Stage 4, in 2017/18 for Pupil Referral Units schools is provided in the attached table. There are many reasons why children who attend Alternative Provision (AP) at Key Stage 4 may face challenges gaining GCSE grades so it is vital that they receive a high quality education. The Department is just as ambitious for pupils in AP as we are for those in mainstream schools. That is why the Department published its AP reform roadmap last March, setting out its vision to ensure all AP settings provide high quality education, and the routes into and out of AP settings work in the best interests of children, to improve their outcomes and allow them to fulfil their potential. The Department has already made progress and have launched a £4 million AP Innovation Fund, which is delivering nine projects across the country.  



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Educational Institutions: Freedom of Expression

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to ensure the maintenance of freedom of expression in publicly funded educational establishments.

Chris Skidmore: Free speech plays a vital and important role in our society, and universities should be places where students are exposed to a range of issues, however controversial, and are encouraged to debate and challenge them. The government, with the support of key stakeholders in the higher education sector, has worked alongside the Equalities and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) to produce the recently published Freedom of Expression guidance. This guidance can be found at: https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/sites/default/files/20150318_foe_legal_framework_guidance_revised_final.pdf. The guidance will enable universities and student unions to understand their obligations for protecting and supporting free speech. The EHRC will continue to maintain this guidance to ensure it remains relevant and accessible to the whole sector. The Office for Students (OfS) will also have an important role to play in championing free speech and promoting good practice. A new public interest principle relating to free speech has been built into the OfS regulatory framework.

Teachers: Veterans

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many veterans have taken part in the Armed Forces to Teachers scheme; and if he will make a statement.

Nick Gibb: The Troops to Teachers programme ran from January 2012 with the last cohort starting in September 2017.A total of 267 ex-service personnel took part in the programme.The scheme has been replaced by a new Troops to Teachers initial teacher training bursary available from September 2018. The bursary, worth £40,000 over two years, is available to veterans who study for an undergraduate degree with qualified teacher status in England in a priority subject.

Part-time Education: Private Education

Stephanie Peacock: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will make it his policy to implement Part 4 of the Education and Skills Act 2008 in order to require registration and inspection of independent alternative education providers that provide part-time education for at least 12.5 hours a week.

Anne Milton: Alternative provision (AP) providers which are full-time and meet the criteria for registration as an independent school are already regulated under the 2008 act. The parallel provisions which would enable regulation of part-time alternative provision have not been commenced.While Ofsted does not directly inspect unregistered settings, inspectors are expected to consider the progress of pupils who attend off-site provision, when conducting school and college inspections. In all cases, the local authority or school acting as the AP commissioner, should assure itself that the provision is delivered by high quality staff with suitable training, experience and safeguarding checks.

Languages: GCSE

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to reverse the decline in the number of secondary school students taking GCSE language courses.

Nick Gibb: The Department has a number of initiatives in place to promote the uptake of languages and to improve attainment. The English Baccalaureate (EBacc) performance measure, which includes languages, has seen the proportion of GCSE entries from pupils in state-funded schools in a modern foreign language (MFL) increase from 40% in 2010 to 46% in 2018.The £4.8 million MFL Pedagogy Pilot commenced in December 2018. It is managed by the newly appointed MFL Centre for Excellence and is run through nine school-led hubs, to improve uptake and attainment in languages at Key Stages 3 and 4. The Department has launched a pilot project in MFL undergraduate mentoring for secondary school pupils to drive up participation in the subject, specifically targeting areas of high disadvantage to extend access to languages for all pupils.Generous financial incentives are offered for languages teaching, including scholarships in modern foreign languages worth £28,000, and tax-free bursaries, typically worth up to £26,000.The Department continues to promote the value of language qualifications to students who are choosing their GCSEs and to their parents. A guidance leaflet for parents, which explains why studying a language, as part of the EBacc, broadens opportunities in both education and employment, and is available to view here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/english-baccalaureate-ebacc.In February, The Department drew attention to the benefits of studying a language among 13-14 year olds through a social media campaign.

Pupils: Contraception

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to increase awareness of different forms of contraception among students in secondary schools.

Nick Gibb: The current subject of sex education and the associated sex and relationship Education guidance, published in 2000, set out that schools should provide young people with information about different types of contraception, safe sex and how they can access local sources of further advice and treatment. As part of the Key Stage 4 biology curriculum and the combined science GCSE, pupils are taught about hormones in human reproduction, and about hormonal and non-hormonal methods of contraception. The new subject of relationships and sex education will also cover contraception. Under the topic of ‘intimate and sexual relationships, including sexual health’, the draft guidance sets out that secondary pupils should know the facts about the full range of contraceptive choices, efficacy and options available. They should also know how the different sexually transmitted infections, including HIV/AIDs, are transmitted, how risk can be reduced through safer sex (including through condom use) and the importance of and facts about testing. Pupils should also be taught how to get further advice, including how and where to access confidential sexual and reproductive health advice and treatment. Subject to making the regulations, schools will be required to teach the new subjects of relationships education (primary), relationships and sex education (secondary) and health education (all schools) from September 2020, and they will be encouraged and supported to start teaching them from September 2019 on a voluntary basis.

Schools: Knives

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate his Department has made of the total number of schools in England that have metal- or knife-detecting technology.

Nadhim Zahawi: The information requested is not held centrally.

Apprentices: Greater London

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate he has made of the number of companies who have transferred the apprenticeship levy in London.

Anne Milton: As at 31 January 2019, there were 200 commitments in England entered into the Apprenticeship Service, where the transfer of funds between apprenticeship service accounts has been approved (a commitment is where a potential apprentice, who is expected to go on to start an apprenticeship, has been recorded with the Apprenticeship Service). Of these transferred commitments as at 31 January 2019, there were 130 transferred commitments that had materialised into apprenticeship starts. Further statistics can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/apprenticeship-and-levy-statistics-february-2019.Information on companies transferring apprenticeship levy funds in each region of England is not available in the format requested. Many levy-paying employers are headquartered in one region but operate across the country meaning that we cannot attribute levy-funds transferred in individual locations. Individual employers have control of the expenditure (and transfer) of apprenticeship levy funds based on their current and future skills needs.It should be noted that, from April this year, levy-paying employers can transfer 25% of their levy funds to other employers.

School Exclusions Review

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when the Timpson report on exclusions was completed; and when he plans to publish that review.

Nick Gibb: In March 2018, the Government launched an externally-led review of exclusions practice, led by Edward Timpson CBE. The review is exploring how head teachers use exclusion, and why pupils with particular characteristics are more likely to be excluded from school.The review has gathered substantial evidence, including over 900 submissions to the call for evidence. Edward Timpson has also chaired a series of roundtables and the review has met with over 100 organisations and individuals, including schools, local authorities, parents and children.The review and the Government response will be published shortly.

Apprentices: Greater London

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many companies in London have transferred support for apprenticeships arising from their apprenticeship levy payments to other employers to date.

Anne Milton: As at 31 January 2019, there were 200 commitments in England entered into the Apprenticeship Service, where the transfer of funds between apprenticeship service accounts has been approved (a commitment is where a potential apprentice, who is expected to go on to start an apprenticeship, has been recorded with the Apprenticeship Service). Of these transferred commitments as at 31 January 2019, there were 130 transferred commitments that had materialised into apprenticeship starts. Further statistics can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/apprenticeship-and-levy-statistics-february-2019.Information on companies transferring apprenticeship levy funds in each region of England is not available in the format requested. Many levy-paying employers are headquartered in one region but operate across the country meaning that we cannot attribute levy-funds transferred in individual locations. Individual employers have control of the expenditure (and transfer) of apprenticeship levy funds based on their current and future skills needs.It should be noted that, from April this year, levy-paying employers can transfer 25% of their levy funds to other employers.

Visual Impairment: Education

Sir Vince Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to help ensure that visually impaired young people can access learning materials adapted to their particular reading need.

Nadhim Zahawi: All schools have duties under the Equality Act 2010 towards individual disabled children and young people, including:to make reasonable adjustments, including the provision of auxiliary aids and services, to prevent them being put at a substantial disadvantage;not to discriminate in relation to their disability; andto publish accessibility plans setting out how they plan to increase access for disabled pupils to the curriculum, the physical environment and to information. Local authorities have parallel duties to publish accessibility strategies.Complementing this, the Children and Families Act 2014 places duties on schools to use their ‘best endeavours’ to make special education provision for those who need it, many of whom will have disabilities.Taken together, this amounts to a range of exacting duties on schools in relation to disability.To support schools in meeting those duties, in relation to vision impairment and more broadly, we are providing £3.4 million funding over 2018-2020, for the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) schools’ workforce contract, which will be delivered by the Whole School SEND consortium, led by nasen. Our aim is to embed SEND into school-led approaches to School Improvement in order to equip the workforce to deliver high quality teaching across all types of SEND. As part of this programme of work, we are also reviewing the learning outcomes of specialist SEND qualifications, including the mandatory qualifications for teachers of classes with vision impairment, to ensure they reflect the changing needs of the education system.

Special Educational Needs: Finance

Sir Vince Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions he plans to have with Cabinet colleagues on ensuring that the upcoming spending review provides funding is adequately weighted towards special needs provision.

Nadhim Zahawi: Ministers and officials from the department hold regular discussions with colleagues at Her Majesty's Treasury and other government departments on all aspects of schools funding, including funding for special educational needs (SEN). We will of course be looking to secure the right outcome for children and young people with SEN in the forthcoming Spending Review.

Apprentices: Greater London

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate he has made of the number of companies who have transferred the apprenticeship levy in London.

Anne Milton: As at 31 January 2019, there were 200 commitments in England entered into the apprenticeship service, where the transfer of funds between apprenticeship service accounts has been approved (a commitment is where a potential apprentice, who is expected to go on to start an apprenticeship, has been recorded with the Apprenticeship Service). Of these transferred commitments as at 31 January 2019, there were 130 transferred commitments that had materialised into apprenticeship starts. Further statistics can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/apprenticeship-and-levy-statistics-february-2019.Information on companies transferring apprenticeship levy funds in each region of England is not available in the format requested. Many levy-paying employers are headquartered in one region but operate across the country meaning that we cannot attribute levy-funds transferred in individual locations. Individual employers have control of the expenditure (and transfer) of apprenticeship levy funds based on their current and future skills needs.It should be noted that, from April this year, levy-paying employers can transfer 25% of their levy funds to other employers.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Retail Trade: Certification Quality Marks

Toby Perkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the potential effect on (a) charity shops and (b) other second hand retailers of plans to replace CE markings with a bespoke UK mark in the event of the UK leaving the EU without a deal.

Kelly Tolhurst: In the unlikely event of the UK leaving the EU without a deal, CE marked goods that meet EU requirements will continue to be recognised for the UK market for a time-limited period. This means that charity shops and second-hand retailers can, during this period, continue to sell products with CE marking, as before. This will minimise costs to business and consumers. Before taking any decision to end the period of recognition of CE marking, we will launch a full and thorough consultation with business, including charity retailers. In terms of selling second-hand goods specifically, then as long as those goods were compliant when first sold in the UK, they do not generally need relabelling before being sold second-hand as long as they are safe. This would still be the case even when the period of ongoing recognition for CE-marking comes to an end.

Retail Trade: Certification Quality Marks

Toby Perkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what grace period is planned for retailers to adapt to the replacement of CE markings in the event of the UK leaving the EU without a deal.

Kelly Tolhurst: In the unlikely event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal, the Government has decided that, for a time limited period, goods that are CE marked will continue to be recognised and available for sale on the UK market. Before taking any decision to end the period of recognition of CE marking, we will consult with business. However, for products that require third party assessment of conformity, and where this assessment has been carried out by a UK conformity assessment body and the certificate of conformity has not been transferred to an EU conformity assessment body, the European CE marking will not be able to be applied to that product. Instead, the UK marking will have to be applied in order to place that good on the UK market after 29 March 2019.

Retail Trade: Certification Quality Marks

Toby Perkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will take steps to ensure that any items in stock in charity shops on 29 March 2019 are not required to change their CE labels to bespoke UK labels in the event of the UK leaving the EU without a deal.

Kelly Tolhurst: The Government has taken the decision, in the event that we leave the EU without a deal, to provide continuity to minimise disruption to businesses and consumers. This means that goods with a CE Marking can still be sold in the UK for a time-limited period after 29 March 2019 without any need for relabelling, so long as they meet the relevant EU rules. Charity shops will not need to relabel CE-marked items in stock on 29 March 2019. In terms of goods in stock that are second-hand, these already do not generally require relabelling as long as they met the relevant rules at the time they were first sold, and as long as the retailer ensures they remain safe.

Retail Trade: Certification Quality Marks

Toby Perkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will take steps to ensure that second hand goods can be sold in perpetuity by charity shops even if they only have a CE label in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal.

Kelly Tolhurst: CE marking is a declaration that a product compiled with relevant EU legislation when it was initially placed on the EU market. A product does not generally have to be relabelled if it has already been placed on the market and is then later sold as second hand. The retailer does, however, have to ensure those goods are safe. Charity retailers can therefore already continue to sell second-hand goods without needing to relabel them, as long as they are safe. This is not time-limited and will remain the case even in a scenario where the CE marking is no longer accepted for new goods being placed on the UK market.

Carbon Emissions

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what plans he has to increase the rate of reduction in the UK's carbon emissions.

Claire Perry: The UK has been a world leader in cutting emissions while creating wealth. Between 1990 and 2017 the UK reduced its greenhouse emissions by 42% while growing our economy by 72%. The Clean Growth Strategy sets out our plan for meeting future carbon budgets and progressing decarbonisation across the whole of the economy. It includes ambitious proposals on housing, business, power, transport, the natural environment and green finance.

Energy: Meters

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether it is Government policy for energy companies to make it compulsory for customers to have smart meters installed if they wish to remain on a fixed tariff.

Claire Perry: Government policy does not prescribe particular requirements around smart metering and energy tariffs, and has made it clear that choosing to upgrade to a smart meter is not compulsory for households.

Business: Ethnic Groups

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to ensure the Industrial Strategy supports BAME-owned businesses.

Richard Harrington: The Government is committed to supporting all entrepreneurs to start and grow a business and is a key aspect of our ambitious Industrial Strategy. The government supports diversity in business and recognises the valuable contribution of BAME communities to our economy. British Business Bank programmes are also currently supporting over £5.9bn of finance to over 82,000 SMEs. The Start-Up Loans programme, now part of the British Business Bank, has delivered nearly 61,000 loans totalling over £464m, and was extended in the autumn budget to April 2021 to enable up to an additional 10,000 loans to be made to entrepreneurs. Of these 22% of loans were made to entrepreneurs with a BAME background (4% of existing SMEs have a BAME owner).For the constituency of Chipping Barnett, 161 start-up loans have been delivered totalling an amount of £1,136, 870. As a key part of the Industrial Strategy, Sector Deals are supporting business of all sizes across the economy and ensuring that businesses meet our wider goals to improve diversity and inclusion in our workforce. For example, the Offshore Wind Sector Deal commits the sector to calculating a baseline figure for BAME representation and to set a stretching target for improving this by the end of 2019.

Business: Ethnic Groups

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to support BAME-run businesses.

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to encourage entrepreneurship in BAME communities.

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy,  what steps he is taking to ensure that business start-up support schemes funded by his Department are engaging with BAME communities.

Kelly Tolhurst: The Government is committed to supporting all entrepreneurs to start and grow a business and is a key aspect of our ambitious Industrial Strategy. The government supports diversity in business and recognises the valuable contribution of BAME communities to our economy. British Business Bank programmes are also currently supporting over £5.9bn of finance to over 82,000 SMEs. The Start-Up Loans programme, now part of the British Business Bank, has delivered nearly 61,000 loans totalling over £464m, and was extended in the autumn budget to April 2021 to enable up to an additional 10,000 loans to be made to entrepreneurs. Of these 22% of loans were made to entrepreneurs with a BAME background (4% of existing SMEs have a BAME owner). On 6th March BEIS launched the Young Entrepreneurs Review, independently led by the Prince’s Trust. The Review will close in September 2019 and will seek to better understand young entrepreneurs, the specific barriers and opportunities they face, and what more can be done to support them to start and grow a business, including young entrepreneurs from a BAME background.

Carbon Emissions

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what plans he has in place to ensure that UK carbon emissions continue to fall year on year.

Claire Perry: The UK has been a world leader in cutting emissions while creating wealth. Between 1990 and 2017 the UK reduced its greenhouse emissions by 42% while growing our economy by 72%. The Clean Growth Strategy sets out our plan for meeting future carbon budgets and progressing decarbonisation across the whole of the economy. It includes ambitious proposals on housing, business, power, transport, the natural environment and green finance.

Climate Change: International Cooperation

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what discussions his Department has had with international counterparts to promote a global co-ordinated approach on tackling climate change.

Claire Perry: We work collaboratively with other countries to tackle climate change in a variety of international fora. We play a leading role in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change process, which brings together almost 200 countries to discuss a global approach to tackling climate change. This process led to 195 countries coming together to secure the historic Paris Agreement in 2015, and a common rulebook for its implementation being agreed last year in Poland. This rulebook will drive genuine climate action globally, while allowing for flexibility and support for those countries that need it. As part of this process, we have offered to host the next important 2020 summit, COP26, demonstrating our commitment to ambitious international climate action. Later this year, the UN Secretary General is convening a Climate Summit in New York. The UK is committed to ensuring it is a success and will be working to bring together key international actors from across the public and private sectors, to drive transformative action on building resilience to climate change.

Renewable Energy

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent estimate he has made of the proportion of UK electricity demand which will be supplied by non-nuclear renewable sources in (a) 2020, (b) 2030 and (c) 2040.

Claire Perry: The Department’s Energy and Emissions Projections[1] include estimates of total electricity generation by source to 2035. The latest published projections show (non-nuclear) renewable sources accounting for around 40% of total generation in 2020 and over 50% of total generation in 2030. The projections do not extend to 2040, but it is anticipated that the equivalent proportion for 2040 would be over 50%. [1] Available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/energy-and-emissions-projections

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: Procurement

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the guidance entitled Procurement policy note 03/14: promoting tax compliance, how many suppliers were allocated contracts by his Department as a result of complying with (a) one and (b) more than one of the mitigating circumstances after failing the tax compliance questions.

Richard Harrington: The information can only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Oil: Poole Bay

Sir Desmond Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the environmental effect of oil exploration operations in Poole Bay.

Claire Perry: Corallian Energy Limited submitted an Environment Statement to BEIS’s OPRED team to support an application to drill an offshore appraisal well in Poole Bay. The Environmental Statement, the comments received from statutory consultees and the representations made in response to the public notice were reviewed by the Department and it was concluded that the proposals would not have a significant adverse impact on the receiving environment or the living resources it supports, or on any protected habitats or species or other users of the sea. The decision can be found under Corallian Energy Limited at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/oil-and-gas-environmental-statements-reviewed BEIS is extremely aware of the sensitivity of this stretch of the UK coastline, and the area in the immediate vicinity of the drilling location. This was therefore given detailed consideration during the review of the proposals, and appropriate mitigation was included to minimise as far as possible the risk of an accidental spill.Officials in OPRED’s Offshore Environmental Inspectorate have visited the rig undertaking the drilling operations in Poole Bay and are content that operations are being undertaken in a responsible manner and in compliance with regulatory requirements.

Post Offices: Closures

Marion Fellows: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many post offices are temporarily closed in (a) Scotland, (b) England, (c) Wales, and (d) Northern Ireland.

Kelly Tolhurst: The Government recognises the critical role that post offices play in communities and for small businesses across the UK. This is why the Government committed to safeguard the post office network and protect existing rural services. The overall number of post offices across the UK remains at its most stable in decades with over 11,500 branches thanks to significant Government investment of over £2 billion since 2010. While the Government sets the strategic direction for the Post Office, it allows the company the commercial freedom to deliver this strategy as an independent business. Temporary closures across the UK is an operational matter for the Post Office. I have therefore asked the Group Chief Executive of Post Office Limited to write to the hon Member on this matter. A copy of the reply will be placed in the Libraries of the House.

Post Offices: Closures

Marion Fellows: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many (a) main, (b) local, (c) community, and (d) outreach post offices are temporarily closed in (i) Scotland, (ii) England, (iii) Wales, and (iv) Northern Ireland.

Kelly Tolhurst: The Government recognises the critical role that post offices play in communities and for small businesses across the UK. This is why the Government committed to safeguard the post office network and protect existing rural services. The overall number of post offices across the UK remains at its most stable in decades with over 11,500 branches thanks to significant Government investment of over £2 billion since 2010. While the Government sets the strategic direction for the Post Office, it allows the company the commercial freedom to deliver this strategy as an independent business. Temporary closures by branch types across the UK is an operational matter for the Post Office. I have therefore asked the Group Chief Executive of Post Office Limited, to write to the hon Member on this matter. A copy of the reply will be placed in the Libraries of the House.

Post Office: Resignations

Marion Fellows: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many sub-postmasters have resigned since the start of the Post Office Ltd's network transformation programme.

Kelly Tolhurst: The Government recognises the critical role that post offices play in communities and for small businesses across the UK. This is why the Government committed to safeguard the post office network and protect existing rural services. The overall number of post offices across the UK remains at its most stable in decades with over 11,500 branches thanks to significant Government investment of over £2 billion since 2010. While the Government sets the strategic direction for the Post Office, it allows the company the commercial freedom to deliver this strategy as an independent business. The number of sub-postmaster resignations since the start of the network transformation programme is an operational matter for the Post Office. I have therefore asked the Group Chief Executive of Post Office Limited, to write to the hon Member on this matter. A copy of the reply will be placed in the Libraries of the House.

Energy: EU Law

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to paragraph 12.3 of the Explanatory Memorandum to The Electricity and Gas (Market Integrity and Transparency) (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 instrument, from what budget the funding will be drawn to pay the estimated £1.9m capital costs for a domestic REMIT reporting system.

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to paragraph 12.3 of the Explanatory Memorandum to The Electricity and Gas (Market Integrity and Transparency) (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 instrument, what payment mechanism will be used for Ofgem to recover the estimated operational costs of £500k per annum to operate a new domestic REMIT system.

Claire Perry: Following a no-deal exit, Ofgem intend to review the domestic reporting requirements of the Regulation for Energy Market Integrity and Transparency (REMIT) in consultation with industry. In the event that new reporting systems are required, alternative arrangements will remain in place for up to 2 years, until these systems are available. These alternative arrangements will not reduce Ofgem’s ability to maintain appropriate oversight of the wholesale gas and electricity markets and will not diminish their ability to enforce REMIT requirements. Costs relating to initial development and on-going operation of domestic REMIT market data and registration systems would be funded through Ofgem license income.

Energy: EU Law

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference paragraph 12.3 of the Explanatory Memorandum to The Electricity and Gas (Market Integrity and Transparency) (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 instrument, what the anticipated timescales are for establishing the registration and reporting requirements set out in that instrument.

Claire Perry: Following a no-deal exit, Ofgem intend to review the domestic reporting requirements of the Regulation for Energy Market Integrity and Transparency (REMIT) in consultation with industry. In the event that new reporting systems are required, alternative arrangements will remain in place for up to 2 years, until these systems are available. These alternative arrangements will not reduce Ofgem’s ability to maintain appropriate oversight of the wholesale gas and electricity markets and will not diminish their ability to enforce REMIT requirements.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Botswana: Nature Conservation

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his counterpart in the Government of Botswana on ensuring the protection of endangered species in that country.

Harriett Baldwin: ​Botswana is a key partner in the fight against the illegal wildlife trade. President Masisi attended the Illegal Wildlife Trade Conference in October 2018 and I took this opportunity to meet with the Minister of International Affairs and Cooperation, Unity Dow, and Environment Minister, Tshekedi Khama, to discuss Botswana's important role in the protection of endangered species. The UK and Botswana also have a regular dialogue on conservation and counter-poaching activity. Botswana faces a number of conservation challenges and has recently consulted widely on human-wildlife conflict.

Zambia: Hippopotamus

Sammy Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his Zambian counterpart on (a) trophy hunting and (b) culling of hippopotamuses in that country.

Harriett Baldwin: The British Government takes the conservation of species seriously and we are looking carefully at the issue of trophy hunting. We will seek to secure a meeting to discuss this issue with the Government of Zambia, and other key states, at the 4th session of the UN Environment Assembly in Nairobi, which will take place from 11th-15th March.We are aware of the proposal for a cull of hippos on the Luangwa River in Zambia. Our High Commissioner has raised the matter with the Zambian Government. The importance of protecting wildlife was discussed with the Minister of Tourism and Arts at the October 2018 Illegal Wildlife Trade Conference in London and our High Commissioner also discussed conservation issues with President Lungu in November 2018.

Alia Abdel Nour

Martyn Day: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will raise with his Emirati counterpart the case of Alia Abdel Nour.

Alistair Burt: ​The UK has a strong history of protecting human rights and promoting our values globally. The depth and breadth of our relationship with United Arab Emirates (UAE) means we can express concerns on a range of issues in a frank and open way at senior levels, but for this to be most effective this is more often in private conversation.

South Africa: Mining

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what support his Department has provided to the community of Marikana following the loss of life at the Lonmin mine in August 2012.

Harriett Baldwin: In response to the Marikana shootings, the UK expressed our concern and condolences to the families of those killed. The UK welcomed the findings of the Marikana Commission of Inquiry that the South African Government established in 2012 to ascertain the facts surrounding the events at Lonmin mine. The Commission issued its report in 2015 and the South African Government accepted full responsibility for the incident, agreeing in 2016 to pay R1.17 billion (£75 million) in compensation.

South Africa: Mining

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will take steps to seek the release of the miners imprisoned as a result of the strike at Lonmin’s mine in Marikana.

Harriett Baldwin: In 2012, the South African Government established the Marikana Commission of Inquiry (also known as the Farlam Commission) to ascertain the facts surrounding the events at Lonmin mine. The Commission issued its report in 2015 and the South African Government accepted full responsibility for the incident, agreeing in 2016 to pay R1.17 billion (£75 million) in compensation. The majority of the 270 miners charged under South African criminal law as a result of the strike at Lonmin have since been released after their charges were dropped by the South African Police.

South Africa: Mining

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he plans to take steps to ensure that the British company Lonmin is held accountable for the loss of life at its mine in Marikana in August 2012.

Harriett Baldwin: ​In 2012 the South African Government established the Marikana Commission of Inquiry (also known as the Farlam Commission) to ascertain the facts surrounding the events at Lonmin mine. Following recommendations made by the Farlam Commission, the British Government sought assurances from Lonmin that the human rights of employees were upheld.

British Overseas Territories: Honours

Sir Hugo Swire: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what (a) steps his Department has taken, (b) guidance his Department has issued and (c) discussions his Department has had in the last 12 months on the rules and regulations surrounding the award of honours by British overseas territories.

Sir Alan Duncan: ​Nominations for citizens of the British Overseas Territories (BOTs) are submitted to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s Royal, Ceremonial and Honours Unit for consideration on the Diplomatic Service and Overseas Honours List. The rules and regulations are the same for nominations from the Overseas Territories as they are for all other honours nominations and there has been no new guidance or discussions about honours for the Overseas Territories in the last year.

Jerusalem: Palestinians

Marsha De Cordova: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his Israeli counterpart on the (a) eviction of the Abu Assab family and (b) potential eviction of a further 200 Palestinian families from their homes in East Jerusalem.

Alistair Burt: ​We continue to be gravely concerned by the impact of demolitions and evictions on ordinary Palestinians and the impact this has on the viability of a future Palestinian state. Our Ambassador to Israel raised our concerns about evictions in Sheikh Jarrah in East Jerusalem with the Israeli authorities on 29 January. Demolitions and evictions of Palestinians from their homes cause unnecessary suffering to ordinary Palestinians; call into question Israel's commitment to a viable two-state solution; and, in all but the most exceptional of cases, are contrary to International Humanitarian Law. We fund a number of projects to monitor and report on settlement expansion in East Jerusalem and the West Bank and to protect vulnerable Palestinian communities from the effects of settlement expansion.

Occupied Territories: Economic Situation

Marsha De Cordova: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effect of Israel’s decision to withhold $138 million in taxes from the Palestinian authorities on the economic situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

Alistair Burt: ​The UK is concerned about the impact of Israel's decision to withhold tax revenues to the Palestinian Authority (PA). The Israeli decision will have significant consequences for stability and security, and will impact the humanitarian and economic situation for ordinary Palestinians. We expect economic and fiscal agreements between Israel and the PA to continue to be fully implemented, including Israel's obligations under the Oslo Accords and Paris Protocol. The UK raised our concerns about Israel's decision with the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs on 21 February. We also remain concerned about the Palestinian system of payments to prisoners and lobby the PA on this issue. But this is not a justification for withholding agreed tax revenues.

UK Relations with EU

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what diplomatic status the European Union will have to the UK after the UK leaves the EU.

Sir Alan Duncan: ​Once the UK leaves the EU, the rules governing the EU's representation in the UK, and the UK's representation in the EU, will be based on those governing the UK's and the EU's relationship with third countries. In relation to the EU's status in the UK, it is normal for the EU to conclude an agreement with a third country to underpin its status in that country. It will be important to have in place a framework that allows for the smooth conduct of relations.

Christianity: Oppression

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with the Home Secretary on the processing of asylum claims from people fleeing the persecution of Christians overseas.

Mark Field: ​The FCO and the Home Office regularly discuss the plight of refugees. All asylum claims are carefully considered on their individual merits in accordance with our international obligations.

Nigeria: Christianity

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to the reported deaths of 3,731 Christians in Nigeria in 2018, what representations he has made to the Home Secretary on the assessment of asylum claims from Nigerian Christians.

Harriett Baldwin: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Home Office regularly discuss the plight of refugees and all asylum claims from Nigerian nationals are carefully considered on their individual merits in accordance with our international obligations.

Burma: Churches

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent representations he has made to the Government in Myanmar on the destruction of churches in Kachin state and their replacement with Buddhist pagodas.

Mark Field: The British Government continues to be concerned by issues of freedom of religion and belief in Burma, including attacks on churches and other places of worship. The Minister for the Commonwealth and the United Nations raised the UK's concerns about persecution faced by Christian and other minorities in Burma in his speech to the Human Rights Council in February 2018. The British Ambassador met the Burmese Minister for Religious Affairs on 9 August 2018, and underlined the importance of interfaith dialogue.

Zimbabwe: Demonstrations

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to his Zimbabwean counterpart on the violent suppression of civilian protests in that country in January 2019.

Harriett Baldwin: British Ambassador Melanie Robinson met Foreign Minister Moyo on 20 February and Finance Minister Ncube on 19 February. She reinforced our calls on the Government of Zimbabwe to investigate all allegations of human rights violations and urge them to follow the due process of law for all those arrested in connection to January's protests.I summoned the Zimbabwean Ambassador on 17 January to urge the security forces to stop using disproportionate force and reinforce the right of the people of Zimbabwe to protest. On 30 January, I spoke to Zimbabwean Foreign Minister Moyo, repeating our calls for an end to human rights violations and a full investigation into all alleged abuse, including arbitrary arrests.

Daphne Caruana Galizia

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make representations to the Government of Malta on establishing a public inquiry to determine what the Maltese authorities (a) knew and (b) ought to have known of the real and immediate risk to the life of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.

Sir Alan Duncan: ​I share the right honourable member's concern to see justice in the case of Daphne Caruana Galizia. The decision to establish a public inquiry is, nevertheless, a matter for the Maltese Government, who have said that a parliamentary inquiry could take place once the ongoing judicial process has been concluded. The UK is committed to the defence of the freedom of expression and the Foreign Secretary has launched a Media Freedom campaign on this very issue, and is keen to work with all international partners to support the safety and protection of journalists worldwide.

United Arab Emirates: Foreign Relations

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he had with his Emirati counterpart during his visit to Abu Dhabi on 3 March 2019.

Alistair Burt: ​The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs visited Abu Dhabi on 3 March as part of a wider Gulf tour including Oman, Saudi Arabia and Yemen. He discussed bilateral and regional issues with the United Arab Emirates Foreign Minister His Highness Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan, including the situation in Yemen.

Germany: British Nationals Abroad

Tommy Sheppard: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to his counterpart in the German Government on reports of UK residents who allegedly collaborated with the Nazi regime during the second world war receiving pensions under the war victims' legislation of that country.

Sir Alan Duncan: None. Pension payments made by the German government are a matter for them.

Turkey: Guided Weapons

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to NATO on the Turkish Government's procurement of the Russian S-400 Missile Defence System.

Sir Alan Duncan: ​We have raised our concerns with the NATO Secretary General and discussed this issue with a number of Allies. The Secretary General has made clear that while defence equipment procurement decisions are for nations, it is very important that our respective systems are interoperable. We share this view.

Turkey: Guided Weapons

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to the Turkish Government on their purchase of the Russian S-400 Missile Defence System.

Sir Alan Duncan: ​We have repeatedly raised our concerns about the proposed Turkish purchase of S-400 missiles, at Ministerial and official level. Turkey is a valued NATO ally, on the front line of some of the UK and the Alliance's most difficult security challenges. Defence equipment procurement decisions are for nations, but all NATO allies have committed to reducing their dependence on Russian-sourced legacy military equipment. The proposed purchase would pose real challenges for the interoperability of NATO systems.

Northern Ireland Office

Northern Ireland Office: Public Consultation

Peter Dowd: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how many consultations by her Department (a) are open, (b) are closed awaiting a Government response and (c) have been initiated since 2016.

Karen Bradley: Since 2016, the following consultations have been initiated by the Northern Ireland Office: Consultation NameOpenedClosedResponse IssuedFuture Delivery of Electoral Services in Northern Ireland12 October 20169 January 201725 June 2018Non-jury trial provisions Justice and Security (Northern Ireland) Act 200716 November 20168 February 201722 June 2017Non-jury trial provisions Justice and Security (Northern Ireland) Act 20076 December 201827 February 2019Awaiting responseAddressing the Legacy of Northern Ireland’s past11 May 201826 October 2018Awaiting response

Department of Health and Social Care

Diabetes

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of NICE guidance on timelines for hyperglycaemia before the provision of additional treatment in order to reduce clinical inertia among type 1 diabetes patients.

Steve Brine: No such assessment has been made.

Diabetes

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps are being taken to (a) improve insulin initiation in primary care throughout Northern Ireland and (b) reduce clinical inertia among type 1 diabetes patients.

Steve Brine: As health is a devolved matter, it would be for the relevant Department in Northern Ireland to provide information on the improvement of insulin initiation in primary care throughout Northern Ireland.Clinical inertia does not arise in the same way for type 1 diabetes or have the same known body of evidence as that for type 2 diabetes. People with type 1 diabetes require standard treatment with insulin and doses will be adjusted as appropriate to the clinical presentation.

Diabetes

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to increase the number of people with Type 1 diabetes who meet NICE-recommended blood glucose targets in order to reduce the (a) incidence and (b) cost of complications among people with that type of diabetes.

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to (a) improve service quality and (b) remove variation in that service for people with type 1 diabetes.

Steve Brine: NHS England is developing a diabetes management and care programme aimed at reducing variation and improving outcomes for people with diabetes. NHS England is making an additional £44 million Transformation Funding available to support delivery of the programme which will focus on four areas: reducing variation in the achievement of the three National Institute for Health and Care Excellence treatment targets, improving take up of structured education, improving access to multi-disciplinary foot care teams for people with diabetic foot disease and improving access to specialist inpatient support. The funding will also provide wider support for diabetes improvement, including dedicated diabetes posts in regional teams and clinical networks.

Diabetes

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps are being taken to (a) help people with diabetes recognise the symptoms of hypoglycaemia and (b) reduce the incidence of hypoglycaemia among those people.

Steve Brine: NHS England issued advice in January 2018 to support specialist diabetes staff and primary care staff to effectively manage and support relevant type 1 diabetes patients to avoid and reduce the incidence of hypoglycaemia. The advice can be accessed at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/blood-glucose-monitoring-systems/From April 2019 flash glucose monitors will be available on prescription for every patient who qualifies for them, in line with National Health Service clinical guidelines. NHS England has put in place national arrangements for funding of flash glucose monitoring sensors for relevant diabetes patients which includes detailed eligibility criteria.

Diabetes

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the number of diabetes patients achieving time in range glucose readings of between 70mg/dl to 180mg/dl.

Steve Brine: The information requested is not centrally held.

Diabetes

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the effect of the Diabetes Transformation Fund on the (a) treatment and (b) care of people with (i) type 1 and (ii) type 2 diabetes.

Steve Brine: £40 million of transformation funding was made available to improve the treatment and care of people with type 1 and type 2 diabetes in England in 2017/18 and 2018/19. This investment funds 180 projects focused on improving patient outcomes. These interventions were selected because evidence indicated that, over time, they should improve outcomes, reduce costs and over the longer term become positively cost-saving:- £18.9 million (cumulative) has been made available to put in place 41 new or expanded multidisciplinary footcare teams, reducing the risk of people with ulcers or other diabetes foot disease from having an amputation; - £9.8 million (cumulative) has been made available to put in place 30 new or expanded diabetes inpatient specialist nurse teams, reducing the lengths of hospital stays for people with diabetes through reducing medication errors and advising on effective treatment; - £20.7 million (cumulative) has been made available to 133 clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) who are offering expanded numbers of structured education places to support people newly diagnosed with diabetes to understand how to look after themselves well; and - £27.8 million (cumulative) has been made available to 108 CCGs to support general practice to increase the number of people who achieve the diabetes treatment targets (HbA1c, blood pressure and cholesterol) and so reduce the risks of complications developing. NHS England is taking steps to evaluate the impact of the programme.

Diabetes

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that healthcare professionals adopt the principles set out in the 2018 NHS England guidance entitled Language Matters: Language and diabetes to enable positive interactions between people living with diabetes and physicians.

Steve Brine: ‘Language Matters: Language and diabetes’ has been disseminated to all stakeholders via NHS England’s communication networks. NHS England will ensure it is used as a key reference point, where applicable, in future publications.

Vaccination

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the Government is on course to meet its annual immunisation targets for at-risk groups in 2019.

Steve Brine: Various at-risk groups are immunised with an influenza vaccine and/or a pneumococcal-polysaccharide-vaccine (PPV). Each year influenza vaccination takes place in the autumn before influenza starts to circulate. For the 2018/19 influenza season, the targets for those aged under 65 in a clinical risk group and pregnant women was at least 55%. Provisional data for the period 1 September 2018 to 31 January 2019 indicated uptake was 46.9% for those in clinical risk groups and 45% for pregnant women in the 2018/19 season. This can be viewed at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/seasonal-flu-vaccine-uptake-in-gp-patients-monthly-data-2018-to-2019 There are no formal coverage targets for PPV. PPV coverage estimates are published annually. The next report will be published in May 2019 and will include data for the period April 2018 – March 2019.

Vaccination

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps the Government is taking to improve vaccination coverage rates throughout the UK.

Steve Brine: Public Health England, in partnership with NHS England and the Department, is undertaking many steps to improve vaccination coverage in England. These steps are reviewed and monitored regularly through a regular tripartite meeting mechanism. These steps include initiatives to improve access to the immunisation programme; communication with the public; data to better identify underserved individuals and populations; and training for healthcare professionals. An example of this is the ‘Help Us Help You’ flu vaccination campaign which can be viewed at the following link: https://campaignresources.phe.gov.uk/resources/campaigns/81-help-us-help-you/resources

Influenza: Vaccination

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the reasons why uptake rates among groups eligible for the free influenza vaccine are low.

Steve Brine: Provisional data for flu season 2018-19 (autumn to spring) shows that flu vaccine uptake in those aged 65 and over is at similar levels to previous years and close to the World Health Organization target of 75%. Vaccine uptake in the children’s programme is at the highest level since the introduction of the programme for two and three-year olds vaccinated in general practice and for children offered the vaccine in primary school. For pregnant women and for those in at risk groups eligible for flu vaccine, the vaccination uptake is slightly lower compared to last year. There are many reasons for this. Many patients do not appreciate how serious flu can be and the importance of protecting themselves. Provisional data can be viewed at the following link: www.gov.uk/government/collections/vaccine-uptake

Vaccination: Health Professions

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to increase vaccination uptake rates among healthcare professionals.

Steve Brine: Frontline healthcare workers are offered flu vaccination by their employer, with a financial incentive for National Health Service trusts to achieve high uptake through a Commissioning for Quality and Innovation target. This can be viewed at the following link: www.england.nhs.uk/nhs-standard-contract/cquin/ This year, the ambition was that 100% of staff were vaccinated with those who declined were asked to sign an anonymised opt-out form stating the reason. Staff who worked in high risk areas had to confirm their vaccination status to senior management. This winter, provisional flu vaccine uptake data for healthcare workers shows slightly higher uptake than last year and is the highest level since the programme began. This can be viewed at the following link: www.gov.uk/government/statistics/seasonal-flu-vaccine-uptake-in-healthcare-workers-monthly-data-2018-to-2019

Vaccination: Carers

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking increase vaccination uptake rates among carers.

Steve Brine: Unpaid carers who are in receipt of a carer’s allowance, or who are the main carer of an older or disabled person whose welfare may be at risk if the carer falls ill, are eligible for a free flu vaccine. They can get their vaccine from their general practitioner (GP) or pharmacy. Every year the Chief Medical Officer writes to third sector organisations representing carers to ask them to encourage their members to get vaccinated. Flu vaccination is also recommended for frontline social care workers to help protect staff and those that they care for. In addition to occupational health schemes in place locally, frontline social care workers who work directly with vulnerable clients are eligible to receive flu vaccine from their GP or pharmacy in a scheme funded by NHS England. Public Health England monitors the vaccine uptake for the flu programme for carers.

NHS: Drugs

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he has taken to secure the supply of (a) methotrexate and (b) hydroxychloroquine in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal.

Stephen Hammond: Leaving the European Union with a deal remains the Government’s top priority; however, as a responsible Government we are planning for every possible outcome, including ‘no deal’. The Department has published guidance to industry and the health and care system to allow them to make informed plans and preparations. This is available on GOV.UK. We are confident that, if everyone does what they need to do, the supply of medicines and other medical products, including methotrexate and hydroxychloroquine, will be uninterrupted. The Department has put in place a multi-layered approach to minimise any supply disruption:- securing, via the Department for Transport, additional roll on roll off freight capacity (away from the short straits crossings to Dover and Folkestone) for goods to continue to come into the United Kingdom from 29 March;- asking industry to build up stockpiles in the UK before 29 March;- buying extra warehouse space for the additional stock to be held in;- supporting companies in booking space on aeroplanes for products which require an immediate shipment due to short shelf-life, including medical radioisotopes, or specific storage conditions;- making changes to, or clarifications of, certain regulatory requirements so that companies can continue to sell their products in the UK even if we have no deal;- strengthening the processes and resources used to deal with shortages in the event that they do occur. There is cross-Government agreement that all medicines and medical products will be prioritised on these alternative routes to ensure that the flow of all these products may continue unimpeded. For any products that require air freight, we are continuing to work with suppliers to ensure this continues as normal.

Health Professions: Vetting

Laura Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if the Government will take steps to ensure that all people providing care can be subject to regulation and an enhanced DBS check.

Stephen Hammond: All people providing care remain subject to employer checks and controls and employers in the health and care sector must satisfy certain legal duties regarding the skills and competence of their staff. Disclosure and Barring Service checks (DBS checks) are only one means of providing employers with the necessary assurances about a workers’ suitability for a particular role. Employers are legally required to ensure that all workers in a regulated activity with adults and/or children are subject to a relevant enhanced DBS check with a view to preventing people from entering the workforce and undertaking a role from which they are barred from engaging in. The Government is committed to a proportionate system of safeguards for the professionals who work in the health and care system. We are very clear that statutory professional regulation should only be used in cases where the risks to the public cannot be mitigated in other ways. We have no plans to make an assessment of the potential merits of a national registration and accreditation system for care workers in England at this time.

Hormone Replacement Therapy

Rachel Maclean: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the amount of HRT that was (a) prescribed and (b) dispensed in England and Wales in 2017-18.

Steve Brine: NHS Digital does not hold the data in the format requested. Data is not collected centrally on prescriptions written but not dispensed. Therefore no such estimate has been made. NHS Digital holds data on prescription items of female sex hormones and their modulators written in the United Kingdom and dispensed in the community in England for the period requested, via an FP10 prescription form, which is available in the following table. Financial YearBritish National Formulary (BNF) CodeBNF sub-paragraph nameNumber of Items2017/18BNF 6.4.1.1Oestrogens and Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT)2,591,4082017/18BNF 6.4.1.2Progestogens and Progesterone Receptor Modulators683,594Source: Prescription Cost Analysis, NHS Digital Notes:Data is provided for female sex hormones and their modulators, listed in the BNF paragraph 6.4.1, split by BNF subparagraphs 6.4.1.1 Oestrogens and Hormone Replacement Therapy and 6.4.1.2 Progestogens and Progesterone Receptor Modulators.NHS Digital only has information about NHS prescription items dispensed to patients in the community in England using a FP10 prescription form. Accordingly, NHS Digital does not hold data: on drugs dispensed in hospitals, on private prescriptions, on prescriptions written but not dispensed and about other supply routes.NHS Digital has no access to data for medicines dispensed in Wales.

Department of Health and Social Care: Loans

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much interest has been paid by NHS trusts and Foundation Trusts on bailout loans from his Department in (a) the last 12 months and (b) each of the last five years; where such interest is paid to; and for what purposes such interest payments were subsequently used.

Stephen Hammond: The following table sets out interest paid by National Health Service trust and foundation trusts in each year since the introduction of interim revenue support loans:  2015-162016-172017-182018-19*NHS Trust£14,935,544£44,356,477£69,945,307£105,159,539Foundation Trust£8,783,806£29,518,357£47,989,946£80,059,239Total£23,719,350£73,874,834£117,935,253£185,218,778Note:*2018-19 includes interest to be paid in March 2019.The interest paid is not lost to the NHS. It is paid to the Department but is channelled back into the NHS through the annual funding provided to the NHS through the NHS England mandate.

Health Services: Immigrants

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will publish the full analysis his Department undertook that concluded that the NHS spends £470 on average per person per year on treating people required to pay the immigration health surcharge.

Stephen Hammond: The Immigration (Health Charge) (Amendment) Order 2018 was introduced in Parliament on Thursday 11 October 2018 alongside a published impact assessment which is available at the following link: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukdsi/2018/9780111172995/impacts

Surgery: Alexandra Hospital Redditch

Rachel Maclean: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he expects a decision will be made on the commissioning of a prostate surgery robotic unit at the Alexandra Hospital in Redditch.

Steve Brine: There are some significant changes in the new service specification for Specialised Kidney, Bladder and Prostate cancer services for adults which was published on 25 February 2019. The publication can be found at the following link: https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Specialised-kidney-bladder-and-prostate-cancer-services-adults.pdf These changes are based on the latest clinical evidence to ensure NHS England deliver the best outcomes to our patients. NHS England is required to review the provision of specialised kidney, bladder and prostate cancer services for adults across the West Midlands to ensure compliance. This review will include the provision of robotic prostatectomy as it is part of the kidney, bladder and prostate cancer service. This will mean that, in conjunction with the West Midland Cancer Alliance, specialised commissioners will undertake a programme of work to develop a new commissioning framework for these services over the next 12 months that ensures compliance with the new service specification. Following this, NHS England will be able to work with trusts and local populations to implement the new model across the West Midlands. No decision about robotic services in Worcester will be made until this review is complete to ensure that robotic surgery is commissioned appropriately.

NHS: Procurement

Craig Tracey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the (a) performance of the procurement process in the NHS and (b) susceptibility of that process to procurement fraud.

Craig Tracey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking with the NHS to tackle the cost of fraud to the NHS.

Caroline Dinenage: To tackle the cost of fraud to the National Health Service, the Department has published and is implementing a counter-fraud strategic plan for the healthcare sector covering 2017-20. The plan includes:- Establishing the NHS Counter Fraud Authority;- Developing a coherent intelligence-led approach to enable the identification, prioritisation and management of fraud risk;- Collaborative working to deliver a comprehensive programme of fraud prevention, deterrence and enforcement activities and loss recovery in the highest risk areas; and- Strengthening counter-fraud capability with an increased emphasis on permanently preventing future losses. As highlighted in the NHS Long Term Plan, NHS Improvement is supporting the NHS to deliver the opportunities for improvement in procurement, including efficiency savings by aggregation of volumes and standardising specifications. A new centralised NHS procurement organisation, Supply Chain Coordination Limited (SCCL), has been introduced to help use this purchasing power on a national scale to get the best deals and deliver high quality affordable care for patients. By 2022, we will double the volume of products bought through SCCL to 80%, extend the number of nationally contracted products and consolidate the way local and regional procurement teams operate.

Medical Treatments

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many incomplete patient treatments there have been where the waiting time was over 52 weeks in each month since June 2010.

Stephen Hammond: Tables showing the number of patients waiting over 52 weeks for treatment on an incomplete pathway within each month since June 2010 are attached. NHS England collects and publishes this data on a monthly basis and is also available via the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/rtt-waiting-times/rtt-data-2018-19/



PQ228737 attached data
(Excel SpreadSheet, 20.66 KB)

Accidents: Older People

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many falls among people aged 65 and over led to a hospital admission in each year since 2009-10; and what the five most frequent types of those falls were.

Caroline Dinenage: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 31 January 2019 to Question 211756.

NHS Trusts: Legal Costs

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much each NHS trust spent on legal fees defending employment tribunal cases relating to (a) discrimination, (b) unfair dismissal and (c) public interest disclosure in each year since 2016.

Stephen Hammond: Costs for how much each National Health Service trust spent in legal fees defending employment tribunal cares relating to discrimination, unfair dismissal and public interest disclosure since 2016 is not held centrally.

E. Coli

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people have been diagnosed with E. coli in each financial year for which data are available since 2010-11.

Steve Brine: The counts and rates of Escherichia coli (E. coli) bacteraemia (bloodstream infection) cases reported by National Health Service acute trusts in England are given in the following table. E. coli bacteraemia counts by financial year, England: 2012/13 to 2017/18Financial YearAll reported E. coli bacteraemia cases2012/1332,3092013/1434,2862014/1535,8122015/1638,2882016/1740,6302017/1841,060Notes:Source:Annual epidemiological commentary: Gram-negative bacteraemia, Meticillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bacteraemia, Meticillin-Sensitive Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA) bacteraemia and C. difficile infections, up to and including financial year April 2017 to March 2018 https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/724030/Annual_epidemiological_commentary_2018.pdf Since the mid-2000s onwards, E. coli has been the major cause of bacteraemia. Given the increase in the number of E. coli bacteraemia reports made through the voluntary surveillance programme, the Department made reporting of E. coli bacteraemia by NHS acute trusts mandatory in June 2011. Data prior to financial year 2012/13 are not available.

Integrated Care Systems

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he expects NHS England's response to the consultation on contracting arrangements for Integrated Care Providers to be published; if he will make it his policy that no such contracts will be entered into until (a) that response has been published and (b) the House of Commons has had an opportunity to annul or approve any regulations relating to those contracting arrangements; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Hammond: NHS England consulted on proposed contracting arrangements for Integrated Care Providers (ICP) between August and October 2018, and is finalising its response to the consultation. NHS England will publish its response in due course. No contracts will be entered into before the response has been published. Any award of the contract will be subject to successful completion of the Integrated Support and Assurance Process (ISAP). On 13 February, the Department laid The Amendments Relating to the Provision of Integrated Care Regulations 2019. The instrument makes changes to regulations which are considered necessary to support the introduction of proposed new contractual arrangements for the provision of integrated health and care services under an ICP contract. The instrument is subject to the negative resolution procedure.

Integrated Care Systems

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, by what date he has planned for the first Integrated Care Providers contracts to be entered into.

Stephen Hammond: The Integrated Care Provider (ICP) Contract is a contractual option for local areas wishing to integrate care. Where a clinical commissioning group (CCG) proposes to use the ICP Contract, proposals will be subject to successful completion of the Integrated Support and Assurance Process before the ICP Contract is awarded. Dudley CCG plans to enter into an ICP Contract by April 2020.

General Practitioners: Easington

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many GPs are registered in the Easington constituency.

Steve Brine: The data requested is not available in the format requested.

Sustainability and Transformation Partnerships: Staff

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many sustainability and transformation plans that have been produced included a workforce plan within them.

Stephen Hammond: Every sustainability and transformation plan was published by the end of 2016 and these can be found through NHS England’s website at the following link:www.england.nhs.uk/integratedcare/stps/view-stpsLocal leaders drawing up these proposals were asked to consider local challenges and priorities, with workforce a key priority. During 2019, each local system will refresh its plan.

Cancer: Health Services

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he will take in the forthcoming workforce implementation plan to ensure that there are sufficient staff in the NHS to diagnose and treat cancer..

Steve Brine: Health Education England (HEE) published its first ever Cancer Workforce Plan in December 2017. HEE intended to publish a second phase, longer-term strategy that looked at the cancer workforce needs beyond 2021. This work was started and stakeholders from within the National Health Service and the charitable sector contributed to the early discussions. This work has since been superseded by publication of the NHS Long Term Plan in January 2019. My Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has subsequently commissioned Baroness Dido Harding, working closely with Sir David Behan, to lead a number of programmes to engage with key NHS interests to develop a detailed workforce implementation plan. These programmes will consider detailed proposals to grow the workforce rapidly, including staff working on cancer, consider additional staff and skills required, build a supportive working culture in the NHS and ensure first rate leadership for NHS staff.

Nurses: Training

Faisal Rashid: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make it his policy to reverse the decision to remove nurse bursaries.

Stephen Hammond: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 4 March 2019 to Question 226753.

NHS: Standards

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average waiting time is for routine NHS appointments across all departments in the most recent period for which figures are available.

Stephen Hammond: NHS England publishes monthly data for Referral to Treatment waiting times on its statistical work areas website at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/rtt-waiting-times/rtt-data-2018-19/Latest data for December 2018 shows 86.6% of patients were seen within 18 weeks, against a 92% standard. The median waiting time was 7.6 weeks.

General Practitioners: Standards

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average waiting time is for a GP appointment in (a) Yorkshire and (b) England in the most recent period for which figures are available.

Steve Brine: NHS Digital started publishing monthly data on appointments in general practice in December 2018. Data is currently available between November 2017 and January 2019. A table showing the time between booking an appointment with a general practice and having the appointment (in days) for England and NHS North (Yorkshire and Humber) is attached. There are seasonal variations in the general practitioner appointment data therefore the most recent month for which data is available (January 2019) is presented as well as a 12-month average. NHS Digital’s data on ‘time from booking to appointment’ does not take into consideration that many patients will be appropriately booking ahead as part of the continuity of care they receive for long-term conditions.



PQ229102 attached data
(Word Document, 22.02 KB)

NHS: Standards

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to improve levels of patient satisfaction with the NHS.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The National Health Service is committed to providing safe, high quality, and compassionate care and this Government is supporting them in doing so by providing the single biggest cash increase made in the organisation’s history. By 2023/24 the NHS budget will increase by £33.9 billion in cash terms – which means that the NHS now has unprecedented certainty to plan for the next decade, ensuring that patients will be supported with world-class care at every stage of their life. The NHS Long Term Plan acknowledges public concern about funding, staffing, increasing inequalities and pressures from a growing and ageing population and looks at opportunities offered by the prospect of continuing medical advance and better outcomes of care. Working with frontline health and care staff, patients and their families and other experts, the Plan proposes further redesign of the way patient care is delivered, making the NHS better able to deliver first-class care for major health problems, such as cancer and heart disease, and to improve the lives of older people.

Department of Health and Social Care: Procurement

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the guidance entitled Procurement policy note 03/14: promoting tax compliance, how many suppliers were allocated contracts by his Department as a result of complying with (a) one and (b) more than one of the mitigating circumstances after failing the tax compliance questions.

Caroline Dinenage: Procurement rules require the Department to exclude any supplier for non-payment of taxes if the breach is established by a court ruling. Information is not collated centrally on companies excluded from bidding for Departmental contracts as a result of prosecutions or convictions in relation to the payment of taxes. Officials are not aware of any such cases.

Cannabis: Medical Treatments

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many patients have been prescribed cannabis-based products for medicinal use; and how many were (a) private prescriptions and (b) prescriptions funded by NHS or NHS Scottish.

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many medical practitioners are registered to prescribe cannabis-based products for medicinal use; how many of those practitioners (a) operate private practices and (b) are NHS or NHS Scotland employees; and if he will list the (i) Trusts and (ii) Health boards at which each of those NHS and NHS Scotland employee works.

Steve Brine: NHS England has set up systems to monitor the prescribing of cannabis-based products for medicinal use via the NHS Business Services Authority and NHS England Controlled Drugs Accountable Officers. We expect the first data to be available by the end of March 2019. In Scotland, work is underway to establish similar systems. There are 95,532 specialist doctors registered on the General Medical Council’s Specialist Register. The law allows any specialist doctor to prescribe cannabis-based products for medicinal use. Specialist doctors may decide to prescribe these products on a case-by-case basis, and where it is clinically appropriate. The Department does not hold information on how many of those practitioners operate private practices and are National Health Service or NHS Scotland employees or where they work.

NHS: Consultants

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the number of medical practitioners that have had applications to be on the Specialist Register of the General Medical Council (a) approved, (b) rejected and (c) where a decision pending in the latest period for which figures are available.

Stephen Hammond: The Department does not hold information on, nor has made an estimate of, the number of medical practitioners that have made applications to be included on General Medical Council’s (GMC) Specialist Register. The GMC is the independent regulator of doctors in the United Kingdom, and under the Medical Act 1983, is responsible for maintaining the Specialist Register. The GMC has provided the information in the following table: Applications to the GMC Specialist Register 2018Approved4,528Rejected164Decision Pending298

Tomography: Procurement

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 6 March 2019 to Question 227413 on Tomography: Inhealthcare, what the timescale was for the procurement process for PET-CT scanning services in 2017-18.

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 6 March 2019 to Question 227413 on Tomography: Inhealthcare, what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of the procurement process for PET-CT scanning services in England.

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 6 March 2019 to Question 227413 on Tomography: Inhealthcare, for what reasons the procurement process for PET-CT scanning was not subject to public consultation.

Steve Brine: The Phase II PET-CT Scanning Services procurement commenced on 10 July 2017 and 10 of the 11 contracts are expected to be awarded in the next four weeks. The exception to this is Lot 4, covering the Thames Valley - Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West area, where discussions between the parties involved are still underway. NHS England has undertaken two phases of procurement for PET-CT services in England, the first completed during 2014-15 and the second is nearing completion. In both cases, NHS England either has or is on-track to secure significantly improved value, both in the form of additional capital investment into new scanners and new scanning locations, and in terms of reduced price to NHS England. As the Phase II process is still underway, it is not possible to make a final assessment of the cost of procurement. However, these will represent a small proportion of the overall forecast benefits. NHS England undertook a public engagement process between January and February 2016 which was designed to test the phase II procurement approach. The results of this process were incorporated into the final procurement design over the course of 2016/17. A thematic report of the response to public engagement was published in 2017, shortly before the phase II procurement commenced. The report can be found at the following link: https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/pet-ct-engagement-report-april-2017.pdf NHS England intends to undertake any further required public involvement duties in respect of planned changes in the location of services following completion of the procurement and in accordance with its responsibilities as described in section 13Q of the NHS Act 2006.

Department for International Development

Developing Countries: Climate Change

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what plans she has in place to support (a) countries increasingly affected by extreme weather linked to climate change and (b) refugees displaced by the effects of climate change.

Harriett Baldwin: Tackling climate change is a priority for the UK Government and for DFID. Under the Paris agreement the UK has pledged to deliver £5.8bn of International Climate Finance between 2016 and 2020 to help poorer countries tackle climate change.These funds are helping to build the resilience of people and communities to cope with climate change already locked in and taking action to reduce future emissions. The UK has helped 47 million people cope with the effects of climate change since 2011.The UK is also working to increase international action on climate change. The Prime Minister has been asked by the United Nations Secretary General to help secure more ambitious and urgent action to build climate resilience, ahead of the Summit on Climate Change in September 2019.Climate change, environmental degradation and natural disasters do not create refugees, who are defined as people fleeing persecution and conflict. However the UK recognises that climate change contributes to the displacement of people in the most vulnerable regions. This is why a major focus of our work is to build the resilience of those communities.

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

Children's Play

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to repair play facilities in parks.

Rishi Sunak: The Secretary of State recognises the importance of parks and green spaces in building safer, stronger and more integrated communities and announced on 17 February £9.7 million funding for local authorities. The fund will be allocated directly to all local authorities with the expectation that they undertake remedial work and renovation of existing parks to enhance the green spaces available to their local communities. This direct funding to local authorities will enable them to target funds to those parks in need of greatest support and repair. We intend to confirm individual local authority allocations and transfer the funds before the end of March The Government has also been expanding our existing £1 million Pocket Parks Plus programme by a further £2.75 million, to respond to the large numbers of high-quality applications we have received from communities across the country. The programme will provide funding for hundreds of community-led projects either to develop new parks or to renovate existing parks that have fallen into disuse through disrepair. By increasing both the number of new parks and improving the standard of existing parks, communities have better access to good quality green spaces.

Housing: Domestic Abuse

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what support his Department provides to rehouse victims of domestic abuse.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: The Government is committed to supporting all victims of domestic abuse. In January, Government published its landmark Domestic Abuse Bill in draft form, alongside its consultation response which sets out a package of other non-legislative support measures for victims of domestic abuse. The draft Bill includes provisions to ensure that, where local authorities in England grant a new tenancy to a victim of domestic abuse who has or had a lifetime tenancy, the new tenancy must be a further lifetime tenancy.Since 2014 MHCLG will have invested £55.5 million in accommodation-based services to support victims of domestic abuse. We have also carried out a review of how domestic abuse services are locally commissioned and funded across England. Following the review, we intend to consult on potential measures for sustainable delivery of support for victims and their children in accommodation-based services for domestic abuse across England shortly.In November 2018 we issued new statutory guidance for local authorities in England to improve access to social housing by victims of domestic abuse who are in a refuge or other form of safe temporary accommodation:https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/753667/Improving_access_to_social_housing_for_victims_of_domestic_abuse.pdf.The guidance makes clear that local authorities are expected not to apply residency tests for those victims who have fled to another district, sets out how they can give appropriate priority to victims, and encourages them to use their existing powers to support victims to remain safely in their homes if they choose to do so.

Stronger Towns Fund: Wales

Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how much money from the Stronger Towns Fund will be allocated to Wales.

Jake Berry: The UK Government will work with the devolved administrations to ensure that towns in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland also benefit from the Stronger Towns Fund. We will announce further details in due course.

National Holocaust Memorial Centre and Learning Service

Sir Edward Leigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how responsibility for maintaining Victoria Tower Gardens will be divided between Royal Parks and the body responsible for the Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre once the Memorial and Learning Centre has been built.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: We are in discussion with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport and The Royal Parks about the future maintenance arrangements for Victoria Tower Gardens.

National Holocaust Memorial Centre and Learning Service

Sir Edward Leigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of (a) the annual running costs of the Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre and (b) how much of that cost will be covered by visitor entrance fees and other income.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: We are considering various operating models to cover the running costs which are estimated at up to £6 million per annum, and will put in place a sustainable long-term plan. While the entrance to the learning centre will be ticketed to avoid queues, no decision has yet been taken on charging policy.

National Holocaust Memorial Centre and Learning Service

Sir Edward Leigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 18 December 2018 to Question 203298, National Holocaust Memorial Centre and Learning Service, what is the relevance of the Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre being located on the banks of the Thames.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: Victoria Tower Gardens is already home to memorials commemorating past struggles for justice and democratic causes. There is no better place for the Memorial, which will stand as a fitting reminder of the horrors of the past and encourage reflection on their implications for the British government and society, both at the time and subsequently. The view of Parliament from the Memorial will serve as a permanent reminder that political decisions have far-reaching consequences.

Housing: Greater Manchester

Tony Lloyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the oral contribution of the Housing Minister on 21 February 2019, Official Report, col 648WH, if he will place in the Library a copy of the letter from the Housing Minister to the hon. Member for Oldham West and Royton on housing targets.

Kit Malthouse: I will deposit a copy of the letter in the Library of the House.

Stronger Towns Fund: Plymouth

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how much money Plymouth is planned to receive from the Stronger Towns Fund in each of the next four years.

Jake Berry: Holding answer received on 11 March 2019



The Stronger Towns Fund has been provisionally allocated according to a needs-based formula calculated according to metrics of: income, productivity, deprivation, skills, and the number of people living in towns. The Stronger Towns Fund prospectus will be published before Summer recess. This will outline the process for how towns can come forward and will set out the process of the £600 million competitive component of the fund. It will also detail the role of local partners, relevant definitions and eligibility criteria.

Sleeping Rough

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will ensure that the rough sleeping statistics published by his Department comply with the code of practice for official statistics.

James Brokenshire: I can confirm that the rough sleeping statistics, as ‘Official Statistics’ are produced in accordance with the principles and practices of the UK Statistics Authority’s Code of Practice for Statistics (Edition 2.0), which replaced the Authority’s Code of Practice for Official Statistics (Edition 1.0) in February 2018.

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government: Public Consultation

Peter Dowd: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many consultations by his Department (a) are open, (b) are closed awaiting a Government response and (c) have been initiated since 2016.

Jake Berry: MHCLG consultations can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications?keywords=&taxons%5B%5D=all&subtaxons%5B%5D=all&publication_filter_option=open-consultations&departments%5B%5D=ministry-of-housing-communities-and-local-government&official_document_status=all&world_locations%5B%5D=all&from_date=01%2F01%2F2016&to_date=.

New Monks Farm: Construction

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to his letter of 24 October 2018 to the hon. Member for East Worthing and Shoreham, when he plans to make a decision on the call-in of the New Monks Farm planning application in Lancing West Sussex.

Kit Malthouse: As stated in the Secretary of State's letter of 24 October 2018, he is considering whether the application for land west of New Monks Farm, Marsh Barn Lane, Lancing should be called in for his own decision. The application is still being considered and a decision will be released as soon as possible.

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government: Chief Scientific Advisers

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many meetings he held with his Department’s Chief Scientific Adviser between 1 December 2018 and 28 February 2019.

Jake Berry: The Secretary of State had numerous meetings attended by analysts and technical specialists in the Department between 1 December 2018 and 28 February 2019.Our Chief Scientific Adviser role is currently being recruited and interviews are scheduled for Thursday 28 March.

Ministry of Justice

Homicide: Reoffenders

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many instances of a Serious Further Offence review of murder has resulted in the perpetrator being (a) charged and (b) convicted where the supervisory agency has been (i) the National Probation Service and (b) a Community Rehabilitation Company in each year since 2014 in England and Wales.

Rory Stewart: The number of offenders managed by (i) the National Probation Service (NPS) and (ii) a Community Rehabilitation Company who were (a) charged with murder and (b) subsequently convicted of murder in each year since 2014 in England and Wales is given in the table below. The number of convictions is a provisional figure and is subject to change as some cases have not yet reached conclusion. In addition, there was an offender supervised by the NPS in 2015 and another in 2016 who were charged with a lesser offence but eventually convicted of murder. Similarly, there was an offender supervised by a CRC in 2015 and three offenders supervised by a CRC in 2018 who were charged with a lesser offender but eventually convicted of murder. A Serious Further Offence (SFO) review is triggered where an offender under statutory supervision in the community is charged with a qualifying offence – a “notification”. However, in cases where charges are dropped in the three-month period for the SFO review to be produced, the SFO review will not be completed. SFOs are rare. Less than 0.1% of offenders under statutory supervision are convicted of murder, and less than 0.5% convicted of any SFO. Nonetheless, every single SFO is taken extremely seriously, and in all cases a review is carried out to identify any lessons for the better management of future cases. The probation caseload, counted in September of each year was: 2015 – 127,000, 2016 – 181,000, 2017 – 185,000 and 2018 – 180,000. The CRCs have a much larger proportion of the caseload than the NPS.   Year(i)National Probation Service(ii) Community Rehabilitation Companies(a)Number of Notifications (charges)(b) Number of Convictions(a) Number of Notifications (charges)(b) Number of Convictions201528164122201626166029201749276537201854147818  Under the Offender Rehabilitation Act (ORA) 2014 offenders serving short prison sentences are now released on licence. As a direct and predicted result, there has been an increase in the number of SFO notifications as a result of ORA. This does not mean that a greater proportion of offenders under statutory probation supervision are being charged with SFOs. The increase plateaued in 2017.The number of ORA only includes cases those cases that would not have previously fallen in scope of the SFO procedures as mentioned above. Cases that were sentenced to an ORA sentence of less than 12 months, but who were previously and concurrently subject to probation intervention, have not been captured within this figure. For example, the offender was subject to a community order (CO), when he was further sentenced to under 12 month sentence under ORA. If the CO was active at the time of the SFO, it would have qualified regardless of the ORA sentence, so has not been counted in the ORA numbers.Data Sources and Quality .We have drawn these figures from administrative IT systems which, as with some large-scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.

Veterans: Prisoners' Release

Mr David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of increasing mentoring services for all veterans who leave prison.

Mr David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the effect of mentoring support for armed forces veterans in prisons on re-offending rates.

Mr David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of expanding mentoring services for veterans leaving prison nationwide.

Edward Argar: A background of military service is generally a positive factor in the rehabilitation of individuals who have been convicted and sent to custody. A mentoring scheme, being delivered by a military charity is currently being evaluated by the department’s Justice Data Lab to assess its impact on reoffending rates. Mentoring services may differ in their aims, content and the nature of the mentor-mentee relationship, for example when working to a clear purpose with defined outcomes such as finding employment or reintegrating into the community. However, suitability for mentoring depends on a number of factors, and may not be appropriate in all cases. It is important from the outset to carry out a thorough assessment of the mentee’s needs and risks.

HM Courts and Tribunals Service: Standards

Sir Alan Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to reduce wait times for Her Majesties Courts and Tribunals Service.

Lucy Frazer: It is a procedural requirement across courts and tribunals to deal with the case efficiently and expeditiously. Listing is a judicial responsibility and function, and the judiciary, in consultation with Her Majesty’s Courts & Tribunals Service, regularly review performance across all jurisdictions. Appropriate action is taken in response to any emerging issues, including to reduce waiting times if this is needed. This may include changes to the allocation of resources. Over £1bn is being invested in transforming the courts & tribunal service, making the justice system simpler to access, convenient to use and more efficient to run; using digital technology to bring the processes of justice into the 21st century.

Prison and Probation Service: Recruitment

James Frith: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what progress he has made on recruiting probation officers in (a) England and (b) North West; and how many vacancies there are in each of those areas.

James Frith: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps are being taken to reduce the number of agency staff employed by the Probation Service.

Rory Stewart: There were 3,352 FTE band 4 probation officers in post as at 31 December 2018. This figure shows a broadly stable trend with a small increase of 9 (0.3%) since 30 September 2018 and a small decrease of 17 (0.5%) compared to 31 December 2017. In the last year, 707 Probation Service Officers (PSO) were appointed, some of whom will be training to become qualified Probation Officers (PO). As at December 2018, there were 544 FTE probation Officers in post in the North West Probation Service Division. We are recruiting more staff into the National Probation Service to reduce the reliance on agency staff. Changes to the recruitment process and eligibility criteria for probation officers have been made resulting in increases in both the volume and diversity of probation officer applicants. A national campaign to recruit probation officers is currently underway and successful candidates will start in July 2019. HMPPS does not publish data on numbers of vacancies.

Prison and Probation Service: Training

James Frith: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the report entitled, An inspection of North West Division National Probation Service, published by HM Inspectorate of Probation in February 2019, what steps he is taking to ensure that probation staff are trained on the policy requirements in relation to the use of remote technology.

James Frith: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the report entitled, An inspection of North West Division National Probation Service, published by HM Inspectorate of Probation in February 2019, what steps is he taking to ensure that the premises in the North West used by the Probation Service are of an adequate standard.

James Frith: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the report entitled, An inspection of North West Division National Probation Service, published by HM Inspectorate of Probation in February 2019, what steps is he taking to ensure that probation staff are able to use court staff facilities.

James Frith: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the report entitled, An inspection of North West Division National Probation Service, published by HM Inspectorate of Probation in February 2019, what steps he is taking to ensure that (a) risk management plans in relation to domestic abuse and (b) the reporting to courts of plans are improved.

Rory Stewart: Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Probation found that the National Probation Service’s leadership team in the North West is focused on delivering a high-quality service. It assessed the work of the Division overall as “Good”. The Inspectorate made eight recommendations for improvement, A programme of building improvement works has already been completed and an action plan has been drawn up to address the remaining recommendations. This was sent to the Inspectorate on 4 March.

Knives: Crime

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prosecutions for (a) carrying a knife and (b) knife-related crime resulted in a sentence of (i) up to six months, (ii) six to 12 months and (iii) over 12 months in the last three years for which information is available.

Rory Stewart: Data that includes the number of defendants prosecuted and sentenced for (i) up to six months, (ii) six to 12 months and (iii) over 12 months custody for possessing an article with a blade or point has been published up to December 2017 and can be found in the ‘Outcomes by offence data tool’, available at the following link: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/733981/outcomes-by-offence-tool-2017-update.xlsx Select ‘10D Possession of an article with blade or point’ in the ‘Offence’ filter. The number of defendants prosecuted can be found in row 23 and custodial sentence lengths can be found from row 55. Identifying the number of prosecutions and custodial sentence lengths for all knife-related offences is not possible within proportionate costs, as there are a range of offences that an offender can be charged with. It would require manual searches of court records, and instances would be recorded under broader offence categories, such as for causing grievous bodily harm, which do not distinguish the use of a knife.

Knives: Crime

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on the potential merits of increasing the minimum sentence for knife-related crime.

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on the potential merits of introducing a compulsory custodial sentence for carrying a knife.

Rory Stewart: The Ministry of Justice is working closely with other departments, to tackle the serious issue of knife crime, which we recognise is an absolute priority. The Courts already have a comprehensive range of sentencing options. Unlawful possession of a knife or offensive weapon in public is a serious criminal offence which a maximum penalty of four years’ imprisonment. Since 2015, adults now face a minimum sentence of 6 months’ imprisonment and young people aged 16 or 17 face a minimum sentence 4 month Detention and Training Order for second or subsequent knife possession or threatening with a weapon in public offences. Courts can only depart from minimum sentencing if it would be unjust to impose these terms. Where someone is actually harmed by a knife or offensive weapon there are a range of other offences, such as causing grievous bodily harm, that the person will be charged with. These can result in lengthy sentences up to life imprisonment. For any offence, the possession, threatening with or use of a weapon will be treated as an aggravating factor meriting an increased sentence. Since minimum custodial penalties were introduced, people caught carrying a knife or offensive weapon for a second time are now more likely than ever before to go to prison – 83% of offenders received a custodial sentence for repeat possession offences. The average immediate custody sentence length in the year ending September 2018 was 7.9 months.

Reoffenders: Prison Sentences

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) men and (b) women have (i) been imprisoned for less than six months and (ii) been imprisoned for less than six months and reoffended within a year of release in each year since 2015.

Rory Stewart: The number of men and women that have been sentenced to up to six months custody in each year since 2015 has been published up to December 2017 and can be found in the ‘Outcomes by offence data tool’, available at the following link:https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/733981/outcomes-by-offence-tool-2017-update.xlsx Select ‘Sex’ and drag into the Columns filter. The number of men and women imprisoned for less than six months can be found by combining the relevant custodial sentence lengths (rows 56 to 59). The one year reoffending rates for prisoners released from sentences of less than six months will be published in the next quarterly proven reoffending bulletin on the 25th April. There is persuasive evidence showing community sentences, in certain circumstances, are more effective than short custodial sentences in reducing reoffending. The MoJ study ‘The impact of short custodial sentences, community orders and suspended sentence orders on re-offending’ published in 2015 found that over a 1-year follow up period, a higher proportion of people re-offended having been sentenced to custody of under 12 months without supervision on release than other similar people given community orders. Unless we tackle the underlying causes of offending, we cannot protect the public from being victims of crime. Effective community orders can address offenders’ behaviour, answer their mental health and alcohol or drug misuse needs, and provide reparation for the benefit of the wider community.

Prison Sentences

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of implementing a presumption against the use of custodial sentences of less than six months for non-violent crimes; and if he will make a statement.

Rory Stewart: There is persuasive evidence showing that short custodial sentences do not work in terms of rehabilitation and helping some offenders turn their backs on crime. Community sentences, in certain circumstances, are more effective in reducing reoffending, and therefore keeping the public safe. Unless we tackle the underlying causes of offending, we cannot protect the public from being victims of crime. There is therefore a case to abolish sentences of six months or less, with some exceptions. We are currently exploring options, including looking at the introduction of a presumption. At this stage we have not reached any conclusions. However, we must ensure the public and judiciary have confidence in effective community orders, including those which address offenders’ behaviour, answer their mental health and alcohol or drug misuse needs, or provide reparation for the benefit of the wider community.

Young Offenders: Restraint Techniques

Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many use of force incidents occurred during the escorting of detained children to and from (a) young offender institutions, (b) secure training centres and (c) secure children’s homes in each of the last five years; and what proportion of these involved the use of (i) Minimising and Managing Physical Restraint (MMPR) and (ii) non-MMPR techniques.

Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the highest level of Minimising and Managing Physical Restraint (MMPR) technique, low, medium, high or pain-inducing, was for each MMPR use of force incident during the escort of detained children to and from (a) young offender institutions, (b) secure training centres and (c) secure children’s homes in each of the last five years.

Edward Argar: We do not hold the data as requested. Minimising and Managing Physical Restraint (MMPR) has been specifically developed for use by staff working with young people in custody. It was introduced in May 2016 and provides a greater emphasis on managing challenging behaviour without resorting to restraint and also stresses the importance of accurate reporting to enable the ongoing analysis of its effectiveness. It also includes restraint techniques which have, for the first time, been assessed by an independent panel of medical and behaviour management experts (the Restraint Advisory Board).I have, however, provided below a table which sets out incidents requiring restraint techniques for escorts to and from Secure Training Centres (STCs), Secure Children’s Homes (SCHs) and Young Offender Institutions (YOIs) from 2016 to 2018 SCH and STC [1]YOIs [2]2014Not held852015Not held1052016Jan to Jun = Not held Jul to Dec = 6112201719131201812126 More specific data in relation to the level of restraint used on children during journeys to and from STCs and SCHs is not held or collected. However, such scenarios are rare with only 12 incidents taking place in 2018. HMPPS review each of these incidents individually, considering any incident forms and in-vehicle CCTV footage to consider whether any lessons can be learned. The safety and welfare of young people held in custody is our highest priority. Restraint is only ever used as a last resort, where there is a risk of harm, and no other form of intervention is possible or appropriate. Every incident of restraint is reviewed by the establishment, this includes looking at whether any lessons can be learned for the future. In addition, Charlie Taylor has been asked to review the Department’s policy on the use of pain-inducing techniques in the restraint of young people in the secure estate, including when they are under escort, to ensure that our approach remains appropriate for the youth estate and in line with the latest research. He is due to report back to Ministers with his findings in Summer.[1] Data for Use of Force on journeys to and from STCs and SCHs broken down by sector is not collected or held. Data on Use of Force in escort journeys to and from STCs and SCHs broken down between MMPR and non-MMPR techniques is not collected or held.[2] MMPR does not currently apply to YOI journeys

Young Offenders: Restraint Techniques

Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many complaints on the use of force by custody escort staff have been made by, or on behalf of, detained children escorted to and from (a) young offender institutions, (b) secure training centres and (c) secure children’s homes in each of the last five years.

Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many warning signs and injuries occurred during the restraint of detained children being escorted to and from (a) young offender institutions, (b) secure training centres and (c) secure children’s homes in each of the last five years.

Edward Argar: Information in relation to complaints on the Use of Force by custody escort staff for young people escorted to and from Young Offender Institutions (YOIs) is not held or collected. Since July 2016, there have been no complaints on the Use of Force by custody escort staff for young people escorted to and from Secure Training Centres (STCs) and Secure Children’s Homes (SCHs). Prior to July 2016, whilst complaints from young people escorted to and from STCs and SCHs were recorded, the data was not broken down to indicate whether such complaints were specifically in relation to Use of Force.

Ministry of Justice: Public Consultation

Peter Dowd: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many consultations by his Department (a) are open, (b) are closed awaiting a Government response and (c) have been initiated since 2016.

Edward Argar: The Ministry of Justice does not have any consultations currently open. We have 19 consultations and calls for evidence closed and awaiting a Government response. In total, we have initiated 55 consultations and calls for evidence since 1 January 2016, including those undertaken in partnership with other Government Departments. These figures include consultations and calls for evidence from the Ministry of Justice and our agencies, but do not include those initiated by independent bodies such as the Law Commission or the Sentencing Council. All Ministry of Justice consultations and calls for evidence are available on GOV.UK and the online consultation platform, Citizen Space.

Ministry of Justice: Procurement

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the guidance entitled Procurement policy note 03/14: promoting tax compliance, how many suppliers were allocated contracts by his Department as a result of complying with (a) one and (b) more than one of the mitigating circumstances after failing the tax compliance questions.

Edward Argar: The information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Treasury

UK Trade with EU

Mr Adrian Bailey: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, for what reason EORI numbers cannot be automatically allocated to intra-EU only traders with registered VAT numbers.

Mr Adrian Bailey: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many of the 40,000 businesses who have registered for an EORI number (a) were and (b) were not already VAT registered.

Mr Adrian Bailey: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the number of intra-EU traders who need to register for an EORI number that (a) are and (b) are not already VAT registered.

Mel Stride: UK traders that only trade with the EU will need an EORI number in the event the UK leaves the EU without a deal. HMRC estimated that in 2017 there were 144,000 VAT-registered traders that only traded with the EU. A separate estimate indicates there are approximately 100,000 non VAT-registered traders that trade only with the EU. The latest HMRC validated data shows that in the three months to 1 March 2019, which covers the period from the start of the business readiness campaign, there were 53,098 registrations for an EORI number, and numbers are growing each week. As HMRC only holds information on UK-EU traders that are VAT-registered, a large population of traders would not automatically receive an EORI number if they were automatically generated. Providing numbers for some traders that needed it, but not all, would send mixed messages about whether it was required. Furthermore, the VAT registration details for a trader can be different from the trading entity that needs an EORI number, meaning automated registration could result in registering the wrong entity. The Government has focused on ensuring the process of applying for an EORI is free and very quick, it currently takes around 10 minutes. The Government has also recently announced temporary simplified procedures to make importing and exporting easier. To register for these simplifications, traders will need a UK EORI number. Therefore, completing the application is a good first step for traders.

Customs Declaration Services Programme

Mr Adrian Bailey: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much of the £2 million allocated to helping traders to make customs declarations has been drawn down by traders upskilling their capacity to make customs declarations; how many grant funding applications have been made to that fund; and many traders have been successful in such applications.

Mel Stride: This £2 million funding to support the cost of training is part of a wider £8 million investment to support the sector ahead of the UK leaving the EU, which includes a further £3 million in grant funding for IT improvements and £3 million which is being used to increase training provision in this area. Applications are still being received, but as of 5 March 2019 124 applications have been submitted for the training grants available to customs intermediaries and traders who complete customs declarations. Applications are subject to a review process once submitted, and so far 43 training grants have either been offered or have already been paid‎.

Customs Declaration Services Programme

Mr Adrian Bailey: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much of the £2 million allocated to helping traders to make customs declarations has been spent on (a) administering the scheme and (b) helping traders.

Mel Stride: The £5 million grant fund, which includes the £2 million to support customs intermediaries and traders who complete customs declarations with the cost of training, does not include any administration costs. Any costs associated with administering the scheme are accounted for separately. The full £5 million grant fund is available for bids from intermediaries and traders.

Tax Avoidance

Mr David Davis: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps HMRC has taken against the promoters of disguised remuneration schemes.

Mel Stride: This Government is committed to tackling avoidance in all its guises. HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has a suite of powers to tackle and challenge those who promote or otherwise enable tax avoidance and HMRC is using its powers to challenge major promoters of avoidance schemes, including disguised remuneration (DR) avoidance schemes.In recent years, HMRC has been investigating over 100 promoters and others involved in avoidance, including disguised remuneration arrangements. In the last couple of years, HMRC has taken litigation action against 6 scheme promoters for failure to disclose under Disclosure of Tax Avoidance Schemes (DOTAS) with others deciding to disclose to avoid litigation. Further cases will be litigated in the year ahead.HMRC has used its powers under the Promoters of Tax Avoidance Schemes (POTAS) legislation to challenge promoters and made three successful complaints to the Advertising Standards Authority about misleading advertising; two of which relate to disguised remuneration schemes.HMRC consider criminal investigation and referrals to prosecuting authorities where appropriate. Since the formation of HMRC’s Fraud Investigation Service on 1 April 2016, more than 20 individuals have been convicted for offences relating to arrangements which have been promoted and marketed as tax avoidance schemes, resulting in over 100 years custodial and more than 7 years suspended sentences being ordered. Additional matters are the subject of ongoing enquiries.

Tax Avoidance

Mr David Davis: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people are subject to the 2019Loan Charge.

Mr David Davis: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people are subject to the 2019Loan Chargein Yorkshire and the Humber.

Mr David Davis: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people are subject to the 2019Loan Chargein Haltemprice and Howden constituency.

Mel Stride: The charge on disguised remuneration (DR) loans will apply to outstanding DR loan balances on 5 April 2019. It is targeted at artificial tax avoidance schemes where earnings were paid in the form of non-repayable loans made by a third party. The loans are provided on terms that mean they are not repaid in practice, so they are no different to normal income and are, and always have been, taxable. The Government estimates that up to 50,000 individuals will be affected by the 2019 loan charge. Information is not held at constituency or regional level. HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) wants to help people put things right and is working hard to help individuals get out of avoidance for good.Anybody who wants to settle their tax affairs ahead of the 2019 loan charge or who is worried about being able to pay what they owe should get in touch with HMRC as soon as possible. HMRC have already provided a number of assurances, including that they will never force somebody to sell their main home to pay for their DR debt, or the loan charge. HMRC has also widely publicised a simplification to the process for those who want to settle their use of DR schemes before the loan charge arises on 5 April 2019. DR scheme users who currently have an income of less than £50,000 and are no longer engaging in tax avoidance can agree a payment plan of up to five years without the need to give HMRC detailed information about their income and assets. This arrangement has been extended to seven years for scheme users who have an income of less than £30,000. Those who consider they need more than five (or seven) years to pay what they owe or who earn £50,000 or more should still come forward and talk to HMRC about payment terms. There are no defined minimum or maximum time periods for payment arrangements but HMRC will ask for more information including details of their income and assets so that they can tailor any payment plan to their individual financial circumstances. Since the announcement of the 2019 loan charge at Budget 2016, HMRC has now agreed settlements on disguised remuneration schemes with employers and individuals totalling over £1 billion. Around 85% of the settlement yield since 2016 is from employers, with less than 15% from individuals.

Tax Avoidance

Neil Coyle: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of pausing the introduction of the loan charge.

Mel Stride: The Government accepted the new clause tabled by Sir Edward Davey which is now section 95 of Finance Act 2019, and will lay a report no later than 30 March 2019. The report will review the effect of changes made to the time limits for recovery or assessment where tax loss arises in relation to offshore tax, and compare these with other legislation including the charge on DR loans. The charge on Disguised Remuneration (DR) loans is unchanged as a result of the Finance Act and will apply to outstanding DR loan balances on 5 April 2019. DR schemes are contrived arrangements that pay loans in place of ordinary remuneration, with the sole purpose of avoiding income tax and National Insurance contributions. The charge on DR loans is expected to raise £3.2bn for the exchequer. The majority, 75%, is expected to come from employers rather than individuals. The best option for those individuals who are worried about the introduction of the charge on Disguised Remuneration loans is to come forward and speak to HM Revenue and Customs as soon as possible. They will work with all individuals to reach a manageable and sustainable payment plan wherever possible. HMRC has put special arrangements in place so that they are able to agree a payment plan of up to five years automatically for those with income below £50,000 and seven years for those with income below £30,000 where those scheme users are no longer engaging in tax avoidance. HMRC may be able to offer a longer payment plan for those that need more than five or seven years or with income over £50,000, where further information is provided.

Arts: EU Nationals

Mr Edward Vaizey: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether A1 forms for artists and musicians will be accepted after the UK leaves the EU.

Mel Stride: The Withdrawal Agreement provides for the continuation of social security coordination, which will maintain the current rules on A1 certificates in the UK and EU until the end of the implementation period in December 2020.

Tax Avoidance

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 4 March 2019 to Question 226209, whether HMRC will provide assistance to people affected by disguised remuneration debt who experienced loss of residence prior to HMRC confirming their policy not to force the sale of a main residence in January 2019.

Mel Stride: The statement made on 30 January confirmed HMRC’s policy not to force the sale of a main residence directly in relation to a Disguised Remuneration (DR) debt. HMRC has never forced the sale of a main residence in relation to a DR debt. Anyone who is worried about being able to pay what they owe should get in touch with HMRC as soon as possible.

Tax Collection

Peter Dowd: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 4 March 2019 to Question 226145, how much the (a) High Net Worth Unit and (b) Affluent teams collected separately in taxation in each year from 2009-10 until their merger.

Mel Stride: The estimated tax receipts for the High Net Worth Unit were provided in the answer to Question 226145 on 4 March. This information is not available for the Affluent team for the same period as this population is not separately identifiable on HMRC systems.

Church Commissioners

George Bell

Frank Field: To ask the right hon. Member for Meriden, representing the Church Commissioners, what authority set down in the statutes of the Commissioners enabled the payment of £29,800 to meet damages and costs relating to the case of Bishop George Bell; and what steps the Commissioners took to scrutinise that settlement before they made over those funds.

Dame Caroline Spelman: The Church Commissioners have a discretion under the Episcopal Endowments and Stipends Measure 1943, assessed on a case by case basis, to pay the costs of a bishop’s office, including costs in connection with legal claims. Requests to the Church Commissioners for assistance with legal costs are subject to scrutiny by the First Church Estates Commissioner and the QC Commissioner, assisted by staff, to ensure that costs are reasonable in the circumstances.

Ministry of Defence

World War II: Veterans

Adam Holloway: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much his Department spends annually on health and welfare services for veterans of World War Two.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: Once Armed Forces personnel leave service, the provision of their health and welfare needs are primarily provided by the Department of Health and Social Care, and the Department for Work and Pensions.Some welfare support is provided by the Ministry of Defence's Veterans UK organisation, but it is not possible to separate out costs for those veterans who served in World War Two.

Military Aircraft: Low Flying

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the (a) number and (b) value of compensation payments made in the last five years to people living below Tactical Training Areas was.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: Claims are recorded by Low Flying Area (LFA) and cannot be separated out to Tactical Training Areas only. The number of compensation payments made for low flying claims arising from people living below in the LFAs encompassing Tactical Training Areas for the five financial years 2013-14 to 2017-18 was 25. The compensation payments amounted to £101,148.27.

Military Aircraft: Low Flying

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the (a) number and (b) value of compensation payments made in the last five years to people living below the Tactical Training Area in central Wales was.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: Claims are recorded by Low Flying Area (LFA) and cannot be separated out to Tactical Training Areas only. The number of compensation payments made for low flying claims arising from people living below in the LFA encompassing the Tactical Training Area in central Wales for the five financial years 2013-14 to 2017-18 was 21. The compensation payments amounted to £98,781.27.

Military Aircraft: Low Flying

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the reasons were for the compensation payments made in the last five years to people living below the Tactical Training Area in central Wales.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: Claims are recorded by Low Flying Area (LFA) and cannot be separated out to Tactical Training Areas only. Compensation payments for the five financial years 2013-14 to 2017-18 made to people living below in the LFA encompassing the Tactical Training Area in central Wales for low flying claims were for the following reasons: 12 claims were for loss or injury to livestock and nine claims were for property damage.

Military Decorations

Sir Hugo Swire: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what regulations there are to enforce rules on the wearing of non-British approved orders with military uniform when representing Her Majesty the Queen and the Government on official business; and what sanctions exist when those rules and regulations are violated.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: Regulations on the acceptance and wear of foreign medals and decorations are laid down in the appropriate Joint Service Publication, and echoed in the single-Service regulations, which are enforceable under Service discipline. It would be a matter for the Chain of Command to ensure compliance with the regulations.

Ministry of Defence: Hammersmith and Fulham

Greg Hands: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department (a) owns or (b) leases the former Kodak processing unit at 26-38 Rylston road in Fulham; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The Department does not own or lease the former Kodak processing unit at 26-38 Rylston Road, Fulham.

Saudi Arabia: Military Aid

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to paragraph 124 of the High Court judgement of 10 July 2017, what (a) processes and (b) procedures are used by Saudi Arabia for UK and Saudi officials to report potential violations of international humanitarian law up the chain of command.

Mark Lancaster: Paragraph 123 (not 124) of the High Court judgement of 10 July 2017 refers to "targeting procedures and processes", and the insight that UK liaison officers in the Saudi Arabian military HQ may have. However, UK liaison officers do not have insight into internal Saudi Arabian procedures that initiate any reports of potential international humanitarian law (IHL) violations.All UK military personnel are required to report suspected violations of international humanitarian law to their command chain wherever and whenever they occur.

RAF Northolt: Repairs and Maintenance

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when he expects RAF Northolt to close for its runway refurbishment and other works; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: Runway and associated infrastructure construction works at RAF Northolt will formally commence on 15 April 2019, although preparatory works have already begun. The runway will be closed from 15 April 2019 until late October 2019, but rotary wing operations will continue throughout this period. During the closure 32(The Royal) Squadron fixed wing aircraft will operate from RAF Benson to ensure adequate support is available to existing and future tasking.

Afghanistan: Peacekeeping Operations

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what representations he has made to his counterpart in the US Administration on the unlawful exhumation and removal of historical British military sites in Afghanistan.

Mark Lancaster: We condemn the improper removal of objects from historical sites. Such a case was brought to our attention in 2013 and UK officials raised the issue with the US Department of Defense at the time. The UK has since commenced collaboration with the US on Cultural Property Protection training.

Ministry of Defence: Public Consultation

Peter Dowd: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many consultations by his Department (a) are open, (b) are closed awaiting a Government response and (c) have been initiated since 2016.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: Since 2012 a digital by default policy has applied to all Government publications, including consultations. All Ministry of Defence consultations are available on the GOV.UK website at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications?publication_filter_option=consultations

Saudi Arabia: Military Aid

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the RAF targeteers working in the Saudi Combined Air Operations Centre are on loan or on secondment to the Saudi Arabian armed forces.

Mark Lancaster: The RAF personnel in the Saudi Air Operations Centre are liaison officers, not 'targeteers'. They play no part in the targeting processes of the Saudi Arabian Armed Forces. They are not on loan terms of service nor are they seconded to the Saudi Arabian Armed Forces. They are under UK command and control.

Department for Work and Pensions

Social Security Benefits: Medical Examinations

Mrs Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people are on the severe conditions criteria list; how long those people have been on that list; and what conditions they have.

Sarah Newton: The Severe Conditions Criteria was introduced on Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) on 29 September 2017 and means that claimants with the most severe and lifelong health conditions or disabilities will no longer be routinely reassessed. We worked closely with the assessment provider, the Centre for Health and Disability Assessments (CHDA), healthcare professionals and disability charities when developing the criteria to cease re-assessments for people with the most severe health conditions or disabilities (unless there is a change in their circumstances). Since August 2018 we also introduced updated guidance for Personal Independence Payment claimants to ensure that claimants on the highest level of support, whose needs will not improve, receive an ongoing award with a light touch review at the 10-year point. The information requested on the length of time on the severe conditions criteria list is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost. The information requested is not centrally collated for Universal Credit claimants and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost. The available information on the number of people on the ESA caseload who have been assessed as meeting the severe conditions criteria, by primary medical condition group and claim duration is shown in the following table. Number of Employment and Support Allowance claimants on the ESA caseload who have been assessed as meeting the severe conditions criteria, by primary medical condition group and by claim duration, as at the end of May 2018, Great Britain   NumberTotal23,900By Primary Medical Condition group Certain Infectious and Parasitic Diseases (A00 - B99)100Neoplasms (C00 - D48)200Diseases of the Blood and Blood forming organs and certain diseases involving the immune mechanism (D50 - D89)-Endocrine, Nutritional and Metabolic Diseases (E00 - E90)200Mental and Behavioural Disorders (F00 - F99)9,500Diseases of the Nervous System (G00 - G99)4,700Diseases of the Eye and Adnexa (H00 - H59)400Diseases of the Ear and Mastoid Process (H60 - H95)200Diseases of the Circulatory System (I00 - I99)1,000Diseases of the Respiratory System (J00 - J99)500Diseases of the Digestive System (K00 - K93)100Diseases of the Skin and Subcutaneous System (L00 - L99)-Diseases of the Musculoskeletal system and Connective Tissue (M00 - M99)800Diseases of the Genitourinary System (N00 - N99)-Pregnancy, Childbirth and the Puerperium (O00 - O99)-Congenital Malformations, Deformations and Chromosomal Abnormalities (Q00 - Q99)1,900Symptoms, Signs and Abnormal Clinical and Laboratory findings, not elsewhere classified (R00 - R99)2,300Injury, Poisoning and certain other consequences of external causes (S00 - T98)300External causes of morbidity and mortality (V01-Y98)100Factors influencing health status and contact with health services (Z00 - Z99)300Unknown or claimants without diagnosis on the system1,200By Duration of claim under 3 months9003- 6 months1,0006-12 months2,0001-2 years1,0002-5 years10,7005 years7,900Unknown400  Source: Employment Support Allowance and Work Capability Assessment dataset and Work and Pensions Longitudinal Survey. Notes: Statistical disclosure control has been applied to these tables to avoid the release of confidential data. Numbers have been rounded to the nearest 100. ‘-‘ denotes nil or under 50.The figures may not match with published sources as they have been derived from a different source.Individuals may have moved into the severe condition criteria list during their claim.Medical condition classification is based on the International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision, published by the World Health Organisation.Medical condition is based on evidence provided at the start of the claim, this in itself does not confer entitlement to Employment Support Allowance and may not represent a claimant’s most recent medical condition.For reporting purposes, the disability conditions as recorded on the Employment Support Allowance Benefit system have been mapped to reflect as closely as possible the appropriate ICD10 code.Where someone has more than one diagnosis or disabling condition, only the predominant one is reported on in these statistics, which should be the most predominant condition.From 29th September 2017 the Work Capability Assessment criteria changed for some ESA claimants. Claimants in the Support Group no longer need to go for reassessment if they meet the severe condition criteria.

Employment and Support Allowance: Arrears

Neil Coyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many next of kin of the estimated 20,000 deceased disabled people who did not receive their full employment and support allowance entitlement due to errors by her Department have been contacted; how many of those next of kin have received a backpayment; and what the average backpayment has been.

Sarah Newton: Holding answer received on 04 March 2019



Due to the complex and sensitive nature of reviewing these cases, we have established an intensive checking process to identify instances where deceased claimants did not receive their full award of ESA entitlement. It is important we get this right to avoid making undue contact with families and causing further distress, which is why these cases are initially checked against information held on various departmental administrative systems. We continue to review our processes to ensure we are as thorough as possible and have previously announced our aim of reviewing these cases by the end of 2019. Out of the estimated 20,000 potential cases, we have reviewed 4,700 with 3,100 requiring no further action and next of kin contacted in 1,600 cases. Of those, 600 were entitled to an average back payment of around £5,000 Notes: Data was extracted from Department for Work and Pensions Management Information on 25 February 2019Numbers of cases are rounded to the nearest 100.The average payment is rounded to the nearest £1,000.Completing case reviews includes cases identified on DWP administrative systems as not entitled or who have identified themselves as not entitled prior to assessment, and also cases which have been through the full journey to assessment

Unemployment

Jess Phillips: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department has undertaken any recent assessment on trends in the level of economic inactivity in socio-economic groups.

Alok Sharma: The latest available data, covering Oct-Dec 2018, shows the rate of economic inactivity being 20.9% – a record low. This rate has fallen since 2010 for every region and country of the UK. These statistics are for the 16-64 age group, which is the Office for National Statistics’ headline rate for economic inactivity. The ONS does not publish statistics on economic inactivity split by socioeconomic group.

Universal Credit

Bill Grant: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an assessment of whether universal credit claimants paid weekly, fortnightly or on a four-weekly basis for part-time work may receive a lower annual benefit than those who are paid on a last day of the month-basis for the same number of hours worked.

Alok Sharma: Universal Credit awards are assessed and paid on a monthly basis. There is, therefore, no annual entitlement, as many claimants’ circumstances change from month to month.

Personal Independence Payment: Medical Examinations

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many claimants of personal independence payment were sent home from their assessment appointments at Independence Assessment Services in 2018 due to staffing issues.

Sarah Newton: In 2018 the number of claimants who attended an assessment appointment for Personal Independence Payment that were sent home unseen by Independent Assessment Service (IAS) due to the unavailability of a Health Professional was 5,700.This figure has been rounded to the nearest 100.

State Retirement Pensions: British Nationals Abroad

Tonia Antoniazzi: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, in which non-UK countries UK pensioners (a) receive and (b) do not receive an annual uprating to their state pension in accordance with the triple lock.

Guy Opperman: A list of overseas countries where the State Pension is up-rated annually is available at:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/state-pensions-annual-increases-if-you-live-abroad/countries-where-we-pay-an-annual-increase-in-the-state-pension A list of countries where State Pensions are in payment but are not uprated can be generated by accessing: https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk Guidance for users is available at: https://sw.stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Getting-Started.html

Employment

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average amount of time spent looking for a job was  each week by individuals claiming (a) universal credit and (b) job seekers allowance in each of the last five years.

Alok Sharma: The requested information is not held by the Department.All work-related requirements are agreed in discussion with claimants. They are tailored to their individual personal circumstances and capacity, and recorded in their claimant commitment. This includes an agreement of the total time they have available and can be expected to be engaged in suitable work related activities including work search activities where appropriate.

Personal Independence Payment: Medical Examinations

Laura Pidcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many medical assessments for personal independence payment have been held in private gyms and spas in (a) County Durham, (b) North East of England and (c) the UK in each of the last three years.

Sarah Newton: Holding answer received on 11 March 2019



Due to General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the number of assessments for Personal Independence Payment held in private gyms and spas is only held for the last two years, not the three that has been requested. For the last two years for which data is available; covering March 2017 to February 2019, the total number of assessments held in private gyms and spas in (a) County Durham, (b) North East of England and (c) the UK is set out in the table below.  March 2017 - Feb 2018March 2018 - Feb 2019(a) County Durham60005300(b) NE England60005300(c) UK88007200  These numbers have been supplied direct from the provider and have been rounded to the nearest 100. The answers to (a) and (b) are the same as all assessments carried out in private gyms and spas in the North East of England are carried out in County Durham. Capita do not carry out PIP assessments at private gyms or spa locations; the numbers included in this response are from Independent Assessment Services (IAS). IAS uses its network of supply chain partners and their estates to help in the delivery of PIP consultations. All locations comply with the required contractual specifications and all of the sites used by IAS have been selected to ensure that they meet the standards set by the Department.

Social Security Benefits: Internet

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to written statement HCWS1376, what steps she is taking to ensure that the benefits of a single digital platform are extended to claimants who do not have access to computers or the internet.

Sarah Newton: Holding answer received on 11 March 2019



We recognise the challenges for customers who cannot access our online services. We will have a choice of other channels available including assisted digital where customers can ask for assistance from friends, family or other organisations, or by contacting DWP by phone or face to face. We expect to increase this digital uptake over time, but are aware that we need to keep these channels open during and after our transition to digital.

Universal Credit

Angela Rayner: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much her Department will spend on (a) the childcare element of the working tax credit and (b) the childcare element of Universal Credit in each of the next five fiscal years.

Justin Tomlinson: HMRC currently estimate spending around £1.1bn per annum on the childcare element of Working Tax Credit. This figure will decrease as tax credits claimants gradually move across to Universal Credit, and spending on childcare under Universal Credit will increase accordingly. The profile of spending on childcare in Universal Credit is as follows:  Ann. cost 18/19Ann. cost 19/20Ann. cost 20/21Ann. cost 21/22Ann. cost 22/23Ann. cost 23/24Total cost UC Childcare£100m£400m£700m£900m£1,100m£1,400m Notes:The figures in the table above are derived from internal DWP models, and costs have been rounded to the nearest £100 million.

Local Housing Allowance: Sleeping Rough

Neil Coyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment her Department has made of the effect of the Local Housing Allowance freeze on levels of rough sleeping.

Justin Tomlinson: No assessment has been made to date on the effect of the Local Housing Allowance freeze on levels of rough sleeping.

Universal Credit

Laura Pidcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many home consultations were (a) requested, (b) granted and (c) refused for work capability assessments for universal credit claimants in the last 12 months.

Sarah Newton: Holding answer received on 11 March 2019



Information is not held on the number of home Work Capability Assessments (a) requested or (c) refused for Universal Credit claimants in the last 12 months. However, I can confirm that over 1,000 home Work Capability Assessments for Universal Credit claimants were (b) granted in the last 12 months.

Universal Credit: Veterans

Mrs Helen Grant: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many veterans in receipt of a war pension are claiming employment support allowance as part of their universal credit claim.

Sarah Newton: New claims to Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) have now stopped, however claimants can receive the ESA component of Universal Credit (UC). Claimants may also be entitled to New Style ESA which can be claimed alongside Universal Credit if the claimant has paid or been credited with sufficient National Insurance contributions, satisfying the New Style ESA eligibility conditions.

Universal Credit: Veterans

Mrs Helen Grant: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many veterans in receipt of (a) an armed forces compensation scheme guaranteed income payment and (b) the war pension scheme unemployability supplement have undertaken a work capability assessment to prove their entitlement to the housing element of universal credit in each year for which information is available.

Sarah Newton: The Work Capability Assessment is not a condition of entitlement to housing costs within Universal Credit.

Universal Credit

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of universal credit claimants have been able to verify their identity successfully online; and if she will make a statement.

Alok Sharma: Thirty-eight per cent of people successfully use GOV.UK Verify to identify themselves. For those who prefer to do this face to face in a Jobcentre that option continues to remain open.

Universal Credit

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average time taken is for a universal credit claim to be verified manually when the claimant is not able to verify their identity online.

Alok Sharma: The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

Independent Case Examiner

Marion Fellows: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 23 January 2019 to Question 210057, for each available year, what the (a) mean and (b) median waiting time is for complaints (i) which are not resolved within eight weeks of being accepted, (ii) which are not settled within 15 weeks of the investigation commencing and (iii) where an ICE report is not issued within 20 weeks of the investigation commencing.

Justin Tomlinson: Whilst high level clearance target performance data is routinely included in the Independent Case Examiner’s Annual Report, the Office only retain case specific information for 26 months following case closure, and as such the requested information is only available for 2017/18 and the current reporting year. The available information is provided in the tables below. Resolution YearMean - Time taken to resolve complaints that were not cleared within 8 weeks of the complaint being accepted for investigationMedian - Time taken to resolve complaints that were not cleared within 8 weeks of the complaint being accepted for investigation2017/18 (April to March)11 weeks10 weeks2018/19 (April to February 2019)11 weeks10 weeks Settlement YearMean - Time taken to settle complaints that were not cleared within 15 weeks of the investigation commencingMedian - Time taken to settle complaints that were not cleared within 15 weeks of the investigation commencing2017/18 (April to March)23 weeks21 weeks2018/19 (April to February 2019)23 weeks22 weeks ICE Report YearMean - Time taken to issue ICE Reports in those cases that were not concluded within 20 weeks of the investigation commencingMedian - Time taken to issue ICE Reports in those cases that were not concluded within 20 weeks of the investigation commencing2017/18 (April to March)30 weeks28 weeks2018/19 (April to February 2019)27 weeks26 weeks

Independent Case Examiner

Marion Fellows: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 8 February 2019 to Question 217031 on Independent Case Examiner, what the (a) mean and (b) median waiting time is for complainants who are not informed within four weeks of whether their complaint has been accepted for investigation in each of the last three years.

Justin Tomlinson: The Independent Case Examiner’s Office can only accept a complaint for investigation once it has (a) established that the complainant has exhausted the relevant business complaints process, and (b) reached agreement with the complainant regarding the scope of any investigation. The Office retain case specific information for 26 months following case closure, and as such the requested information is only available for 2017/18 and the current reporting year. The available information is provided in the table below. YearMean – Time taken to inform complainants whether their complaint could be accepted for investigation, in those cases that exceeded the four week internal targetMedian – Time taken to inform complainants whether their complaint could be accepted for investigation, in those cases that exceeded the four week internal target2017/18 (April to March)11 weeks8 weeks2018/19 (Year to date – April to February)15 weeks11 weeks

Children: Maintenance

Angela Crawley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many non-resident parents are in maintenance arrears through the Child Maintenance Service; and what amount of money is outstanding in such arrears in Lanark and Hamilton East constituency.

Justin Tomlinson: The number of paying parents in maintenance arrears, and the amount of unpaid maintenance on their cases as of September 2018 for the constituency of Lanark and Hamilton East are outlined in the table below.  Number of paying parents with unpaid maintenanceAmount of unpaid maintenance (£)Lanark and Hamilton East190290,000 Note: Paying parents are rounded to the nearest 10, unpaid maintenance is rounded to the nearest £10,000.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Animal Welfare

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when he plans to publish the draft animal sentience bill.

David Rutley: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the hon. Member for Brighton, Pavilion, Caroline Lucas, on 12 February 2019, PQ 218781.

Plastics: Packaging

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the report entitled Plastic packaging plan: Achieving zero 'waste' exports, published by Policy Connect in January 2019, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of introducing a target of net zero UK exports of recyclable plastic packaging by 2030.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: The UK is recycling more than ever and the Government is committed to increasing domestic recycling. Our approach in the Resources and Waste Strategy, from production through consumption to end of life, is focused on increasing supply and demand for secondary materials to be recycled in the UK. This will grow the UK recycling industry and reduce the need to export recyclable waste. Waste is a commodity and these secondary materials will always have a global market. Exports from the UK will therefore form an ongoing part of our resource management where there is demand. We are currently consulting on reforms to the Packaging Waste Regulations and are seeking views on the issue of exporting of packaging waste. We want to ensure that export of packaging waste is done in an environmentally responsible way and that domestic reprocessors are not unfairly disadvantaged. The consultation includes proposals to better manage and control packaging waste exports, including through tighter monitoring and enforcement of existing export regulations. We will also be looking at a suite of measures on waste shipments including increasing monitoring, improved provision for waste repatriation, and charging higher fees to improve compliance in the near future.

Natural England

Sue Hayman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the conclusions of the Prospect report The State of Natural England 2018-2019.

Sue Hayman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effect of the reduction of Natural England’s budget on biodiversity and habitat conservation.

Sue Hayman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what increased duties and responsibilities Natural England will take on after the UK leaves the European Union.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: Natural England (NE) has a key role in protecting and enhancing the natural environment in England, delivering the Government’s 25 Year Environment Plan and helping reverse the decline in biodiversity. There are currently no new duties or responsibilities Planned for NE as a result of the UK leaving the European Union. Defra and Natural England have responded rigorously to the need to balance public spending and to manage resources. NE has transformed the way it does business, working in partnership and deploying resources where they will have greatest impact.

Natural England: Licensing

Sue Hayman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many licences Natural England has issued for activities which may disturb or kill European protected species in each year since 2010.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: Natural England does not hold collated data prior to 2015 in a readily accessible format. From 2015 to present, Natural England has issued 10,808 European Protected Species (EPS) licences linked with activities that may ‘disturb’ a species. In the same period Natural England has issued 72 EPS licences linked with activities that may ‘kill’ a species. Totals for each year are included below: EPS licences issued for activities related to disturbance 2015 – 3068 licences2016 – 2333 licences2017 – 2392 licences2018 – 2507 licences2019 – 508 licences to date EPS licences issued for activities related to killing 2015 – 10 licences2016 – 5 licences2017 – 17 licences2018 – 31 licences2019 – 9 licences to date The majority of these licences involve the disturbance of bat species or great crested newts as a result of house building or other development activity. Smaller numbers relate to survey or research, or to different species such otter or hazel dormice. Each licence application is carefully assessed and must pass three legal tests: the activity must be of overriding public interest;there must be no satisfactory alternative that will cause less harm to the species; andthe activity must not harm the long-term conservation status of the species (so the applicant may need to create new habitats or alternative roosting sites, for example)

Public Footpaths

Sue Hayman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress Natural England has made on the National Trail; and what the completion date is for that project.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: The England Coast Path (ECP) will be a 2,700 mile walking route around the coast of England. Natural England have been allocated £25.6m between 2015 and 2020 to deliver the England Coast Path. A summary of progress on each of the 16 open or approved stretches is included in Table A and B. The 50 unopened stretches are summarised in Table C. Estimated cost of establishment works and opening dates are provided where known. The ECP proposals are within scope of a European Court opinion, known colloquially as People over Wind (PoW), which was handed down in April 2018. The PoW opinion affects the way Natural England manage the impact of their proposals on sites with nature conservation designations. As such, the PoW court ruling has impacted on delivery of the path to date and will continue to have an impact moving forward. In light of this judgement and progress to date the 2020 delivery date is being reviewed. Natural England continue to work towards opening as much of the path as possible by 2020. To date the delivery programme has cost £18million. Establishment costs have been funded through grant in aid to Natural England. From 2018/19 Rural Development Programme for England funding has been available for local authorities to meet the cost of establishment.

Home Office

Fife Migrants Forum: Finance

Stephen Gethins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what future funding his Department plans to provide to Fife Migrants Forum.

Caroline Nokes: According to our financial records the Home Office has never made a payment to Fife Migrants Forum. As of 28 February 2019, no decisions have been taken to provide funding to Fife Migrants Forum.

Knives: Crime

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions his Department has had with social media companies to encourage them to prevent the display of knife crimes on their platforms.

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits on bringing forward legislative proposals for the regulation of social media platforms in relation to the removal of knife crime content.

Victoria Atkins: The Home Office chairs a Social Media Action Group which brings together Government, social media companies, police and community groups to discuss and take action against violence related content online.We are also providing £1.4m to support a new national police capability to tackle gang related activity on social media. The new social media hub will be established within MPS, transforming the current capability and will take action against online material, focusing on investigative, disruption and enforcement work against specific gang targets, as well as making referrals to social media companies so illegal and harmful content can be taken down. It will be fully operational this spring.We recognise though that more needs to be done to tackle online harms and we are committed to further legislation. A joint DCMS-Home Office White Paper will be published shortly. This will set out a range of legislative and non-legislative measures, detailing how we tackle online harms, setting clear responsibilities for technology firms to keep UK citizens safe.

Sexual Offences: Advisory Services

Sarah Champion: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many independent sexual violence advisers there are in each region of England and Wales.

Sarah Champion: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he has targets for the number of independent sexual violence advisers in England and Wales per head of the population; and if he will make a statement.

Victoria Atkins: The Government does not hold information on the number of Independent Sexual Violence Advisers (ISVAs) employed across England and Wales, nor does it have targets on the number of ISVAs.The cross-government Violence against Women and Girls Strategy, published in March 2016, set out that from April 2017, local services would be supported through a new VAWG Transformation Fund. This moved from a model of direct national match-funding for individual domestic and sexual violence adviser posts to funding local programmes which encourage partnership working and early intervention and prevention.In September 2017 the Home Office published guidance setting out the expectations of the role of an ISVA, and we also published a National Statement of Expectations and Commissioning Toolkit in December 2016, which provided a national blueprint for effective local commissioning of VAWG services.

Offences against Children: Victims

Sarah Champion: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment he has made of the cost to the individual of becoming a victim of childhood sexual abuse.

Victoria Atkins: There is a range of evidence pointing to the devastating and life-long impacts of child sexual abuse on victims. For example, data from the Crime Survey for England and Wales shows that 23% of the adults surveyed who experienced sexual assault as a child went on to experience sexual assault as an adult (this compares to 3% of adults who did not report sexual assault as a child but who became victims of the offence as an adult). The same survey indicates that adults with a long-term illness or disability are significantly more likely to have experienced abuse during childhood than those without such a conditionWe know that child sexual abuse can impact on every element of a victim’s life, including physical and mental health, relationships, educational attainment and employment. For that reason, this Government is committed to ensuring that all victims of sexual abuse and exploitation feel they can come forward, knowing that they will get the specialist support they need to help them cope with and, as far as possible, recover from the abuse they have suffered.

Crimes of Violence: Acids

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps he is taking to support police officers to reduce the number of acid attacks.

Victoria Atkins: As set out in the Serious Violence Strategy, the Government is taking a range of action to support the police and others to prevent acid attacks. This is based on the action plan announced in July 2017 which is focused on ensuring effective support to victims and survivors, supporting effective policing, ensuring that the legislation is understood and consistently applied, and restricting access to acids and other harmful corrosive products.We are working with the National Police Chiefs’ Council on delivery to ensure that the policing response is effective to prevent attacks from happening in the first place, but also in providing support to victims where they do. The National Police Chiefs’ Council has developed appropriate training for officers, including first responder training, specialist investigative guidance to help police officers understand how to safely recover and handle any evidence at the scene and the evidence required to build a case for prosecution.We are also strengthening the powers available to the police through the Offensive Weapons Bill which is currently passing through Parliament. The Bill includes legislative measures on stopping the sale and delivery of corrosive products to under 18s and making it an offence to possess a corrosive substance in a public place.Alongside this, the Home Secretary announced on 20 February 2019 that we will be extending stop and search powers for corrosive substances to allow the police to be able to enforce the new possession offence effectively. We are also working with the Government’s Defence Science and Technology Laboratory to develop corrosive testing kits for the police to support them in situations where they believe that a suspect is carrying a corrosive substance in public.In addition, the Government has commissioned the University of Leicester to examine what motivates offenders to carry and use acid and other corrosive substances in violent attacks. The research findings are expected to be available later this year, and these will help to inform further preventative and enforcement responses.

Radicalism: Romford

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps he is taking to protect children in Romford constituency that are at risk of radicalisation.

Mr Ben Wallace: The Romford constituency falls within the remit of the London Borough of Havering. The Government made Prevent a statutory duty in July 2015. The Duty requires all local authorities, including Havering, to stop people becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism.A Home Office peer review of Havering’s delivery of the Prevent duty in January 2019 found that Havering had a strong approach to delivering the Prevent programme, which aims to prevent vulnerable individuals being drawn into terrorism. The Borough has a wide training and engagement programme for schools, colleges, childcare providers and children’s services. Those deemed most at risk of radicalisation are supported through Havering’s Channel Panel, with holistic needs addressed through the Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH).

Gangs: Social Media

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions he has had with representatives of social media platforms on the hosting of gang videos that contribute to violent crime.

Victoria Atkins: The Home Office chairs a Social Media Action Group which brings together Government, social media companies, police and community groups to discuss and take action against violence related content online.  We are also providing £1.4m to support a new national police capability to tackle gang related activity on social media. The new social media hub will be established within the Metropolitan Police Service, transforming the current capability and will take action against online material, focusing on investigative, disruption and enforcement work against specific gang targets, as well as making referrals to social media companies so illegal and harmful content can be taken down. It will be fully operational this Spring.

Radicalism: Social Media

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions he has had with representatives of social media platforms on the hosting of extremist content that endorses terrorism.

Mr Ben Wallace: The Home Secretary has met with representatives of social media companies both bilaterally at meetings in Silicon Valley and at multi lateral fora, such as the Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism summit, where he has continued to press companies to do more to respond to the threat of terrorism online.The Security Minister has also met with industry representatives at the G7 Interior Ministers meeting in Toronto in 2018.This Government has been clear there should be no safe spaces online for terrorists and extremists to operate. The UK has been at the forefront of the online battle against the threat of terrorist and extremist content. My officials work closely with industry to encourage them to do more to proactively respond, and to develop innovative solutions to tackle this problem.But there is still more to do. A White Paper will be published shortly, setting out measures to tackle online harms, including terrorist content.

Home Office: Staff

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many staff have been employed by his Department in each month since June 2016.

Victoria Atkins: Home Office publish monthly workforce management information on gov.uk - links provided below. This information has been summarised in the table 1 provided.2010 to 2017: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/structure-and-salaries-series2018: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/workforce-management-information-20182019: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/workforce-management-information-2019



Table 1 - PQ 227161
(Excel SpreadSheet, 15.18 KB)

Theft: Cars

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent discussions he has had with car companies on preventing the theft of keyless cars.

Mr Nick Hurd: Justice and policing is devolved to Northern Ireland. On 15 January I chaired the first meeting of the Vehicle Theft Taskforce, which brings together the automotive industry, insurers, the police, Government departments and others to help ensure that the collective response to vehicle theft in England and Wales is as robust as it can be. This includes looking at preventing the compromise of electronic vehicle security.

Fraud: Westminster Bridge

Mr Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many scam artists were arrested on Westminster Bridge in (a) 2017 and (b) 2018.

Mr Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many crimes involving scam artists on Westminster Bridge were reported in (a) 2017 and (b) 2018.

Mr Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many scam artists on Westminster Bridge were cautioned in (a) 2017 and (b) 2018.

Mr Nick Hurd: The information requested is not held centrally by the Home Office.

Knives: Crime

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment he has made of trends in the level of knife offences in Havering in each of the last five years.

Mr Nick Hurd: Data published by the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime in London shows that offences involving knives in Havering have increased over the last five years, and at a faster rate than for the Metropolitan Police Service overall.Havering2014 1552015 1822016 1792017 3362018 339MPS overallYear ending September 2014 9508Year ending September 2015 10024Year ending September 2016 10513Year ending September 2017 13723Year ending September 2018 14788 The Government is very concerned about recent increases in knife crime and its impact on victims, families and communities. The action we are taking is set out in our Serious Violence Strategy and includes new legislation in the Offensive Weapons Bill, currently in Parliament, and continuing police action on knife crime under Operation Sceptre.We have amended the Bill to introduce Knife Crime Prevention Orders, which will help prevent young people from carrying knives. The Strategy includes a strong focus on prevention and early intervention to stop young people being drawn into violent crime.We are supporting early intervention and prevention with children and young people through the Early Intervention Youth Fund of £22 million, which is already supporting 29 projects across England and Wales. Over £17 million has already been allocated to projects delivering interventions to young people at risk of criminal involvement, gang exploitation and county lines. We are also supporting 68 small community projects this year through £1.5 million from the anti-knife crime Community Fund, one of which is working in local schools in Romford, Barking, Dagenham, Ilford and Redbridge.

Organised Crime: Outer London Boroughs

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans he has to reduce organised acquisitive crime in the outer London boroughs.

Mr Nick Hurd: Through the election of Police and Crime Commissioners we have ensured that all communities, including those in outer London boroughs, have a strong voice in determining how police resources are allocated to tackle the crimes that most matter to them. In addition, Regional Organised Crime Units in England and Wales provide capability to investigate serious and organised crime across police force boundaries and play an important leadership role in facilitating information sharing across agencies and departments.We are committed to providing all police forces in England and Wales with the resources they need. The proposed funding settlement for 2019/20 enables total policing funding to increase by up to £970 million, including Council Tax precept and funding for national priorities such as counter-terrorism. This is sufficient for the police to both manage financial pressures and invest in key areas such as recruiting more detectives. Indeed, the Mayor of London has proposed to use the full Council Tax precept flexibility in 2019/20, which would see funding for the Metropolitan Police increase by around £172 million, and for that increase to support the recruitment of a further 300 police officers.

Immigration

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Immigration White Paper, published in December 2018, if he will publish his Department's engagement proposals as described in that White Paper.

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Immigration White Paper, published in December 2018, what type of engagement he plans to undertake in relation to the proposals described in that White Paper.

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Immigration White Paper, published in December 2018, when the engagement set out in that White Paper will take place.

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Immigration White Paper, published in December 2018, if he will hold discussions with (a) the Royal College of Nursing and (b) other organisations representing the health and social care workforce on the proposals in that White Paper.

Caroline Nokes: The Government’s White Paper, “The UK’s future skills-based immigration system” (Cm 9722), published on 19 December 2018, provides a platform for further discussion. We have launched an extensive programme of targeted engagement across the UK, to capture views and ensure that we design a future system that works for every nation.There are three approaches to this engagement programme.The Government is engaging with specific sectors to communicate proposals and understand their priorities for a future system. We will hold cross-sector forums in the nine regions of England and all the nations of the UK to hear views from across the country.We are also creating advisory groups that will have detailed discussions with private, public and voluntary sector employers and industry representatives as the policy and system is developed

Immigration: EU Nationals

Deidre Brock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing exemptions from the requirement to apply for the settled status scheme for non-UK EU citizens who are of pensionable age and have lived in the UK for more than five years.

Deidre Brock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing exemptions to the requirement to apply for the settled status scheme for non-UK EU citizens who are spouses of UK citizens.

Caroline Nokes: We have considered carefully the introduction of the EU Settlement Scheme and its implications for EU citizens and their family members.Exempting any cohort of EU citizen from the requirement to apply to the scheme could leave them at a disadvantage because they may be unable to demonstrate their entitlements to employment, benefits and services in the same way that other EU citizens who had applied to the scheme would be able to.We are clear that we want all resident EU citizens to stay and have de-signed the EU Settlement Scheme to make the application process as simple and easy as possible for all cohorts of applicants.

Visas: Applications

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many and what proportion of applications to UK Visas and Immigration under the new super priority service were not decided within the twenty-four hour service standard; and if he will make a statement.

Caroline Nokes: Published information on in-country visa applications and service standards can be found at:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/in-country-migration-data-february-2019

Immigration: EEA Nationals

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Example Case Study in Chapter 8 of his Department’s White Paper, the UK’s future skills-based immigration system, Cm 9722, what estimate his Department has made of the number of UK citizens living elsewhere in the European Union with a partner from the European Economic Area who would be required to meet the Minimum Income Requirement should they decide to continue their family life in the UK after the UK leaves the EU.

Caroline Nokes: The Home Office has not estimated the number of British citizens living elsewhere in the European Union with a European Economic Area national partner who may decide to continue their family life in the UK after it leaves the EUIn the event the UK leaves with a deal, British citizens will be able to return to the UK and benefit from the existing so-called “Surinder Singh” provisions throughout the implementation period. This means their family members will be able to return to the UK as now and apply to the EU Settlement Scheme. This is reflected in the Immigration Rules laid on 7 March 2019. Further details will be provided shortly on the immigration status of family members of British citizens returning from the EU in both a ‘deal’ and ‘no deal’ scenario.

Windrush Generation: Compensation

Emma Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when his Department plans to announce the final details of the Windrush compensation scheme.

Caroline Nokes: The Government has committed to putting into place the Windrush com-pensation scheme and is grateful to those who responded to the public consultation that closed on 16 November.As the Home Secretary announced on 8 February, we are considering the outcome of the consultation exercise and will respond as soon as possible with further details, including who is eligible to apply for compensation and how they can access the scheme.

Immigration: Research

Chris Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans he has to review the immigration rules in relation to the medical research sector; and if he will make a statement.

Caroline Nokes: The Government values the contribution which migrants makes to the medical research sector.There are generous provisions for PhD-level occupations, which include medical researchers. These occupations have higher priority when allocating monthly places within the Tier 2 cap. We have also exempted these occupations from the £35,000 earnings threshold for settlement applications and exempted them from the Immigration Skills Charge.The Government is committed to developing a future borders and immigration system that will cater for all sectors of the UK, including for those who make a very valuable contribution to our research sector.Proposals in the White Paper published in December provide a platform for further discussion. The Home Office has launched engagement over 2019 with a wide range of stakeholders across the UK.

Cabinet Office

Treasury: Grants

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether his Department has reviewed its policy on awarding grants as a result of the cancellation of the Garden Bridge project.

Chloe Smith: Whilst not connected to the cancellation of the Garden Bridge project, the Cabinet Office published a set of minimum standards for government general grants in December 2016. The standards cover the end-to-end process and are designed to ensure that government grants administration is efficient, effective and offers value to taxpayers. The standards and supporting guidance are published on gov.uk.

National Cyber Security Centre: Staff

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many staff at the National Cyber Security Centre are categorised as (a) supplier resource and (b) contingent labour.

Mr David Lidington: The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) was established formally on 3 October 2016. At that time, the NCSC had a team of approximately 700 people. At the end of its second year, in October 2018, the NCSC had a team of approximately 850 people. For national security reasons we will not be providing further releases on staff numbers.

Elections: Fraud

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate his Department has made of the cost to the public purse of efforts to secure UK elections from outside interference in each year since 2010.

Chloe Smith: Whilst we have no seen evidence of successful interference, we are not complacent: this Government takes the security and integrity of our electoral processes extremely seriously. The Government is committed to working together with a full range of partners: academia, businesses, charities, regulators and civil society to respect, protect, and promote our democracy. Protecting the UK’s electoral mechanics from foreign cyber interference is one of the National Cyber Security Centre’s key priorities. The NCSC offers political parties access to the best cyber security guidance and support, and will provide cyber security guidance to the range of bodies – notably local authorities – involved in an election. It is also the responsibility of organisations and individuals to do what they can to reduce the vulnerability of data, which is the most effective method to deny states and others the opportunity to do harm or interfere. This is why we have spent £1.9 billion on cyber security, including establishing the NCSC since 2016. There is also ongoing work with local authorities and electoral administrators to ensure our elections remain secure. Within these broad programmes of work to secure our democratic processes, costs specifically to secure elections from outside interference are not recorded separately.

Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman: Internet

Dr Rupa Huq: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will take steps to ensure that the minutes of all quarterly Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman meetings are displayed clearly on their website.

Dr Rupa Huq: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will take steps to ensure that stakeholders of the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman who raise questions on the Ombudsman's service charter receive a response.

Chloe Smith: The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) is independent of Government and is accountable to Parliament through the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee for its performance. I understand that the Ombudsman’s office has already contacted the Hon. Member to offer a meeting about issues relating to his annual scrutiny session with the Committee.

Homelessness: Bethnal Green and Bow

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many people died as a result of issues related to homelessness in Bethnal Green and Bow in each of the last five years.

Chloe Smith: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.



UKSA Response
(PDF Document, 116.26 KB)

Brexit

Layla Moran: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 7 March 2019 to Question 228168 on Brexit, when his Department will publish the full recent costs of physical advertising in relation to the UK's withdrawal from the EU.

Mr David Lidington: I refer the Honourable Member to my answer given to Question 228168 provided on 7 March 2019.

Department for International Trade

Overseas Trade: Saudi Arabia

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what assessment he has made of Saudi Arabia's record on the maintenance of human rights in determining his policy on future trade with Saudi Arabia.

George Hollingbery: This Government frequently discusses human rights and raises concerns with the Saudi Arabian Government. No aspect of our commercial relationship with Saudi Arabia prevents us from speaking frankly and openly about human rights and we use our engagement to encourage reform. We do not pursue trade to the exclusion of human rights.

Trade Missions: Sports

Tracey Crouch: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, whether he has taken steps to ensure that overseas trade missions contain representation from sporting National Governing Bodies or sport more widely.

Graham Stuart: Sporting National Governing Bodies are invited to participate in trade missions where appropriate. The Department for International Trade runs trade missions promoting the sports economy and the business opportunities related to this sector. These missions are open to sports economy related companies and/or organisations looking to do business overseas, and DIT market these events and missions widely to relevant companies. DIT encourage federations and national governing bodies, as well as businesses, to participate in order to help us promote UK sporting excellence and expertise overseas.

Israel: Trade Agreements

Marsha De Cordova: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, whether the UK-Israel Free Trade Agreement will exclude Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories in line with current European Union differentiation.

George Hollingbery: I refer the hon. Member to my answer to Question [226022] on [5] March 2019.

Export Controls: Saudi Arabia

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, for what reason the 9 March 2015 Open General Trade Control Licence to Saudi Arabia was denied.

Graham Stuart: There were no Open General Trade Control Licences (OGTCL) dated 9 March 2015 that were denied. [However, we believe you intended to ask about an Open Individual Trade Control Licence (OITCL) that was denied on the 9 March 2015 to various destinations, including Saudi Arabia.] The licence was denied under Criterion 5 of the Consolidated EU and National Arms Export Licensing Criteria – “the national security of the UK and territories whose external relations are the UK’s responsibility, as well as that of friendly and allied countries”.

Overseas Trade: Tanzania

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what steps he is taking to increase trade between the UK and Tanzania.

George Hollingbery: After leaving the EU, the UK will create a trade preference scheme which will provide duty-free, quota-free access to Least Developed Countries, including Tanzania. The UK is a strong global player on Aid for Trade (AfT). Our comprehensive AfT programmes help partner countries break down the barriers to trade and take better advantage of trade opportunities. As the Prime Minister set out during her visit to Africa last Summer, the Government is committed to seeing a step change in our relationship with Africa in order to drive forward trade and investment. The Department for International Trade supports UK businesses to both export and invest overseas. And last August the Government launched a new export strategy, setting out how we will encourage, inform, connect and finance UK businesses of all sizes to enable them to take advantage of the demand for UK goods and services in markets such as Tanzania and around the world.

Foreign Investment in UK

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what steps he is taking to increase the level of foreign direct investment into (a) Belfast and (b) the rest of the UK.

George Hollingbery: DIT is leading on Government’s shared intent to safeguard the UK’s position as a world-leading destination for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). The UK has many strengths that attract investors: an open, liberal economy, world-class talent and a business-friendly environment. The most recent data from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) ranked the UK as third globally for FDI in 2017—and the number one destination in Europe, ahead of Germany. DIT is supporting investment into local communities by targeting promotional support towards projects with the greatest potential to maximise national wealth and value for money. As part of this approach, DIT is working with local partners to systematically identify emerging clusters, sub-sectors, supply chain gaps or other ‘High Potential Opportunities’ where lack of market information is leading to structural under-investment. This programme includes opportunities to strengthen the aerospace and advanced engineering sector in Northern Ireland.

Exports: Advertising

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 6 March 2019 to Question 226741 on Exports: Advertising, what assessment he has made of trends in the level of exports as a result of the Exporting is Great publicity campaign.

Graham Stuart: DIT regularly assesses the impact of the Exporting is GREAT campaign. This is done via the National Survey of Registered Businesses. The latest results of which are published on gov.uk and can be found here:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/714998/DIT_National_Survey_main_report__08062018.pdf

Department for International Trade: Procurement

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, with reference to the guidance entitled Procurement policy note 03/14: promoting tax compliance, how many suppliers were allocated contracts by his Department as a result of complying with (a) one and (b) more than one of the mitigating circumstances after failing the tax compliance questions.

Graham Stuart: None of the Department for International Trade’s suppliers have failed to meet the tax compliance criteria in the Procurement Policy Note 03/14.

Trade Agreements: NHS

Patrick Grady: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what his Department’s policy is on the inclusion of private provision of NHS Services in future trade negotiations with other countries in the event that the UK leaves the EU.

George Hollingbery: I refer [the Honourable Friend for Glasgow North] to the answer I gave to [the Member for Midlothian] on 26 February 2019, UIN 224364.

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

Big Lottery Fund

Stephanie Peacock: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how much Big Lottery funding (a) per capita and (b) in total was allocated to (i) Barnsley East constituency, (ii) Barnsley, (iii) South Yorkshire, (iv) Yorkshire and the Humber, (v) the South East, (vi) the South West, (vii) London and (viii) England in each of the last five years for which data are available.

Mims Davies: Applicants for funding from The National Lottery Community Fund (formally the Big Lottery Fund) often name their main office as their project delivery location. A high proportion of charities are based in cities and towns, or have their main office in London, but deliver activity and services to a much wider area. Figures often don’t reflect the spread of activity and the overall offer of services and projects funded by The National Lottery Community Fund within a particular constituency. Therefore, when applying population figures to project delivery locations, amounts tend to be skewed towards larger towns and cities. i) Barnsley East Constituency ConstituencyFinancial YearTotal£ Per CapitaBarnsley East13-14£103,532.41£1.09 14-15£66,685.00£0.70 15-16£188,314.72£1.99 16-17£143,532.50£1.52 17-18£197,890.20£2.09Barnsley East Total £699,954.83  ii) Barnsley Local Authority Local AuthorityFinancial YearTotal£ Per CapitaBarnsley13-14£1,427,860.09£5.87 14-15£854,103.18£3.51 15-16£1,800,625.72£7.40 16-17£1,145,185.16£4.71 17-18£1,288,699.20£5.30Barnsley Total £6,516,473.35  iii) South Yorkshire (comprised of Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham and Sheffield Local Authorities)  Financial YearTotal£ per capitaSouth Yorkshire13-14£16,356,416.99£11.74 14-15£14,023,168.00£10.06 15-16£14,933,490.26£10.72 16-17£16,873,418.36£12.11 17-18£9,491,199.45£6.81Grand Total £71,677,693.06iv) Yorkshire and the Humber Region RegionFinancial YearTotal£ per capitaYorkshire and Humber13-14£38,640,009.70£7.09 14-15£89,322,096.07£16.39 15-16£51,711,416.59£9.49 16-17£80,553,098.99£14.78 17-18£31,267,188.48£5.74Yorkshire and Humber Total £291,493,809.83  v) South East Region RegionFinancial YearTotal£ per capitaSouth East13-14£37,060,019.68£4.08 14-15£34,724,352.31£3.82 15-16£41,166,563.97£4.53 16-17£48,919,524.49£5.39 17-18£24,649,532.94£2.71South East Total £186,519,993.39  vi) South West Region RegionFinancial YearTotal£ per capitaSouth West13-14£35,180,841.47£6.33 14-15£34,843,244.52£6.27 15-16£42,123,433.56£7.58 16-17£97,600,009.84£17.56 17-18£30,344,170.27£5.46South West Total £240,091,699.66   vii) London Region RegionFinancial YearTotal£ per capitaLondon13-14£153,317,246.00£17.37 14-15£406,815,258.96£46.10 15-16£94,147,899.19£10.67 16-17£131,555,802.60£14.91 17-18£90,812,805.80£10.29London Total £876,649,012.55  viii) England CountryFinancial YearTotal£ per capitaEngland13-14£452,990,065.85£8.14 14-15£871,215,276.72£15.66 15-16£439,585,108.33£7.90 16-17£704,445,923.22£12.67 17-18£328,890,895.33£5.91England Total £2,797,127,269.45  Per capita funding for the last five full financial year for projects delivered in England.Based upon:· Mid-2017 constituency population estimates - released 30 June2018 [1]· Mid-2017 population estimates - released 28 June 2018 [2]· FMS data. [1]https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/populationestimates/datasets/parliamentaryconstituencymidyearpopulationestimates[2]https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/populationestimates/datasets/populationestimatesforukenglandandwalesscotlandandnorthernireland

Garden Bridge Trust

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what meetings (a) the chair of the Charity Commission and (b) other staff of the Charity Commission held with the Garden Bridge Trust after its registration as a charity.

Mims Davies: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the Charity Commission. Helen Stephenson CBE, Chief Executive Officer, Charity Commission for England and Wales has responded with the attached letter.



Letter from Charity Commission 
(PDF Document, 215.77 KB)

House of Commons Commission

House of Commons: Apprentices

Robert Halfon: To ask the right hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington, representing the House of Commons Commission, how much funding from the apprenticeship levy the House of Commons has spent in the 2018-2019 financial year to date.

Robert Halfon: To ask the right hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington, representing the House of Commons Commission, how much funding from the apprenticeship levy the House of Commons has spent on training apprentices in the 2018-19 financial year.

Robert Halfon: To ask the right hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington, representing the House of Commons Commission, how much funding from the apprenticeship levy the House of Commons has yet to spend in the 2018-19 financial year.

Tom Brake: The expansion of the programme began in late 2018 due to procuring new training providers to fully meet the requirements of the House and, following their appointment, the programme has expanded quickly and will continue to do so. As a result for the financial year 2018–2019 the House has spent just £38,452 (9%) of its Levy, all of it on training apprentices.The House has approximately £383,500 of the Levy remaining to the end of the 2018–19 financial year. The House is already using this amount for the full expansion of its apprenticeship programme and the ongoing enrolment of apprentices onto training. This includes the portion of the Levy funds allocated to be spent by Parliamentary Digital Services, who are planning their apprenticeships for 2019.Of the 2018/2019 funds remaining the House will continue to spend these on apprenticeships for the coming year. These funds are not constrained by the financial years and are available on a rolling basis.

House of Commons: Telephones

Keith Vaz: To ask the right hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington, representing the House of Commons Commission, what estimate the Commission has made of the cost to the House of the recent installation of new phone systems in the House of Commons.

Tom Brake: Parliament’s telephone system was installed in 1985 and – like much of the Palace of Westminster’s core infrastructure – is at the end of its supported life; at significant risk of failure; and growing increasingly difficult to support. Replacement parts for the system are no longer made and the organisation has been buying second hand parts for the last ten years. There are no longer providers in the market place that support the corresponding software. If our legacy system were to fail we could not reliably restore the service.Given this situation, a project was initiated in 2014 to examine the options to replace our legacy telephone system, whilst also meeting the needs of Parliament’s mobile workforce and the impending estates challenges associated with the restoration and renewal of the Palace of Westminster. That project identified Skype for Business as the most suitable solution to meet these needs.The total implementation cost for rolling out the system across Parliament (House of Commons and House of Lords Members and the Administrations) to February 2019 is £3.9 million (revenue) and £1.4 million (capital). It is forecast to spend in total £5.5 million (revenue) and £1.5 million (capital). The total revenue cost per user is £611 and the total capital cost is £166 per user. The cost is shared between the House of Commons and the House of Lords on a 70%:30% ratio.

Women and Equalities

Equality

Jess Phillips: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, if she will make it her policy to update the Government’s guidance on positive action; and if she will make a statement.

Victoria Atkins: Both the Government and the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) have issued guidance - including in EHRC Statutory Codes - on how employers, service providers and other organisations can use positive action measures in a proportionate way, to address under-representation, disadvantage or low participation in activities by people with specific protected characteristics. The guidance can be found at the following links: https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/en/advice-and-guidance/equality-act-codes-practice for the EHRC Statutory Codes and https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/85014/positive-action-recruitment.pdf & https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/85015/positive-action-practical-guide.pdf for Government Quick Start Guides. The Government keeps the Equality Act 2010 and its related guidance under review; however, we have no current plans to revise the guidance on positive action.

Equality Act 2010

Jess Phillips: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what recent assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the Equality Act 2010.

Victoria Atkins: The Government published the five-year review of the Equality Act 2010 in July 2015, through a Memorandum to the Women and Equalities Select Committee. We continue to keep the Equality Act 2010 under review, and, look forward to the contribution which the committee’s forthcoming report on Enforcing the Equality Act and the role of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, will make to this process.

Equal Pay: Age

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that workers receive equal pay regardless of age.

Victoria Atkins: The Equality Act 2010 already protects against direct and indirect age discrimination in recruitment and employment, and makes it unlawful for an employer to discriminate against an employee or a job applicant because of their age, unless the employer can justify it as a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim. Anyone who believes that they have been discriminated against on account of their age can seek advice from the Equality Advisory Support Service at http://www.equalityadvisoryservice.com/app/ask; on Freephone Telephone 0808 800 0082; or, by text phone on 0808 800 0084, in considering whether to seek redress in a court or tribunal.

Equal Pay

Dawn Butler: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, if she will make an estimate of the number of companies that have not yet filed accurate gender pay gap data for 2017-18.

Dawn Butler: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, with reference to the Guardian article of 28 February 2019 entitled Lack of sanctions makes a mockery of gender pay gap reports, if she will make an estimate of the number of companies that have provided mathematically impossible figures for gender pay gap data for (a) 2017-18 and (b) 2018-19.

Dawn Butler: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, how many companies were asked to refile their gender pay gap data for 2017-18 due to inaccurate or missing data.

Dawn Butler: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, whether there are companies that have not filed their gender pay gap data for 2017-18.

Victoria Atkins: 100% of employers believed to be in scope of the regulations reported their figures by August 2018. It is an employer’s legal responsibility to ensure that they report on time and that their figures are accurate. The vast majority of the over 10,500 that reported last year have completed the calculations correctly. In 2018, the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) commenced enforcement action against 100 employers suspected of publishing inaccurate gender pay gap figures. The EHRC enforcement found that they were a result of errors, rather than a deliberate attempt to mislead. They have worked closely with employers to identify and correct errors - all of whom have now either verified their figures or identified and corrected calculation errors. Employers have until 30 March, for the public sector, and 4 April, for the private and voluntary sector, to submit their data for the second year. The data for the 2018-19 reporting year will be reviewed once the deadline has passed.

Females: Local Government Finance

Paul Farrelly: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what discussions she has had with Cabinet colleagues on the implications for Government policies of the conclusions of the report from the Women's Budget Group, Triple Whammy: The impact of local government cuts on women, published on 7 March 2019 which found that changes to local authority funding disproportionately affects women.

Victoria Atkins: I regularly discuss gender equality with all my Cabinet colleagues. The recent Local Government Finance Settlement delivered a real-terms increase in funding for local government in 2019-20.The Public Sector Equality Duty is a duty that requires all public bodies, including local authorities, to proactively have due regard to advancing equality of opportunity between people from different groups and I would expect them to do so when considering their spending decisions.More broadly, we are continuing to develop the upcoming gender equality & economic empowerment strategy with Ministers across government to address the persistent gendered economic barriers women – and men – face.